Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
“The Collected?” Ha-Lah asked.
“They are not ours, of the Go’Doan. We did not write them. They were written before the true gods were worshipped. We saved them from the other realms and keep them protected here,” the priest answered.
“Shite,” Cassius muttered.
“Have they been translated?” Silence asked.
The man reared back in offense. “All the Collected were painstakingly translated.”
“Get us those,” Mars ordered.
“You still do not even have approval to be here,” the man spat.
Mars was about to move, but True did it before him.
Thus, the man scuttled back on his hands and feet, True in pursuit. The priest eventually smacked his head into the leg of a desk and stopped before True leaned deeply over him to come face to face.
“He said,” True whispered. “Get…us…those.”
“I love it when he gets like that,” Farah said breathily, and at a glance, Mars saw it was to Ha-Lah.
Ha-Lah was eyes to True and grinning.
“True, calm,” Elena called, straightening. “I’ll go to the catalogue, discover what these were about and locate the translations.”
She then walked right to and up the winding staircase with Cassius dogging her heels.
“Isn’t there someone you should report the massacre of your brothers to?” Aramus asked the priest.
“I can’t leave you alone with the tomes,” he retorted in horror.
Aramus looked to Mars.
Mars shrugged.
It was not long before they heard a loud whistle.
Mars moved to the center railing and looked up.
Cass was peering down.
“We’ve been had,” he called.
“What?” Mars asked.
“She was leading us away,” Cassius shouted as Mars felt the others join him at the railing. “Those volumes are about the prophecy. If they did not before, they know about us now.”
“Fuck,” Mars clipped.
“Is that all?” True called.
“Ellie’s checking.”
Silence pressed in front of him, her head down, but her voice loud when she yelled, “Tell her two-one point five-seven. Two-one point five-nine. Two-one point six-three. And two-two point naught-one.”
She was reading from numbers she’d commandeered a quill and inked on the palm of her hand.
“Louder!” Ellie’s disembodied voice could be heard from above.
Silence started shouting but Mars pulled his queen to his front, took her wrist, and boomed a repeat of the numbers.
“Right!” Elena called.
Mars kept his wife close even as he released her wrist and looked to True. “Do you feel like a bloody fucking fool, standing in a library amongst a slew of dead bodies, accompanied by an ignoramus, shouting at each other?”
“Yes,” True answered.
Silence giggled.
Mars did not find anything amusing.
He felt this less so when he sensed movement above, looked up, saw Elena was nearly hanging over the railing, her honeyed hair swaying about her face, and her voice was urgent when she called, “Aramus? Do you know what the ‘Mouth of Triton’ is?”
Aramus looked to True. To Mars.
Then he raced up the stairs.
They all raced up after him.
152
The Pursuit
Teddy
Aboard the Passenger Galleon, the Pentacle
STRAIT OF MEDUSA
“I never in my life thought I’d go to Mar-el,” Moira, standing in the curve of Saturn’s arm at the railing of the ship, breathed as they saw land come into view. “This is so exciting.”
Saturn looked over her head to Faunus.
He did not share in his woman’s excitement.
“I love seafood,” she declared. “We never had it, except once, when I was a little girl, and we went for a holiday in Seil Haven. So that’s why I know I love it.”
Saturn grunted.
She twisted her head to look up at him. “You don’t like seafood?”
“I have no idea, gioia,” Saturn murmured. “I have never tasted it.”
Her eyes got large. “Truly?”
His face softened a tad. “Truly.”
“We must go to an eatery the minute we disembark,” she decreed. “Get you some white fish fried in batter. It’s delicious.”
“You do know,” Saturn began carefully, “we are not here to holiday.”
“Yes,” she mumbled, now not looking at any of them, “of course.”
She turned back to face the sea.
Her excitement had deflated, and Teddy knew precisely what she was feeling, but he loved her all the more for trying to make this into a delightful adventure.
Saturn again looked to Faunus, to Teddy, then he visibly pulled her deeper into his body with his arms about her chest and bent to her ear.
“But we will take time before we leave to have this fish in batter,” he promised.
“All right,” she whispered.
Faunus brushed his arm and Teddy looked up to him.
He then followed him down the deck.
When they were out of earshot of their friends, Faunus stopped and turned back to Teddy.
“I wish to review the plan,” Faunus said.
“I know the plan,” Teddy sighed.
“You do not deviate from it,” Faunus decreed.
Teddy pressed his lips tightly together.
“You wanted to come, your job is to keep her safe,” Faunus reminded him, jerking his head back to Moira.
And your and Saturn’s job is to keep Mars and his queen and their fellow rulers safe. So, who’s going to keep you safe? he thought but he did not ask.