Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
I would be the one in that bed if it weren’t for her.
Or maybe I’d be dead.
I sat there for hours, wide awake because I’d slept all through the day. When I’d woken up, Bastian was still asleep, so I left him to continue to rest and I went to the castle. Commander Dawson and Asher were both gone, along with all the guards that had served her for decades. Now the place didn’t feel the same. It felt like a bloody battlefield.
Hours later, her hand gave a twitch. So did her eyes.
I sucked in a breath then held it for seconds, hoping that my wish had come true.
She inhaled a deep breath first before her arm moved across the sheet. Her face immediately became hard with tension, as if all the pain struck her now that she was conscious. She woke with a start, her eyes snapping open.
I gave her a second to absorb her surroundings, to remember where she was and what had happened.
Her eyes settled on me and remained there for a while, her quick breaths slowing once again. Then her eyes moved out the window to distinguish the time.
“It’s the middle of the night.”
She shifted her body up against the headboard so she could sit up, cringing as she moved. “We won?”
“Yes. The dragons hunted down the Necrosis that fled. Necrosis is extinct.”
“Good. Vermin…”
She seemed back to her normal self. “Huntley and Ian were here all day. But they couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer.”
“They should rest. They fought valiantly. What happened to Haldir?”
“He’s in the dungeons. We’re going to take him to the Bone Witch to break the spell.”
“But you said you killed all the Necrosis.”
“Bastian said there are some that still remain in their lands, including his sister.”
Despite what Haldir had done to her, she didn’t seem angry about sparing his life. “You’re alright?”
Her question startled me. The silence trickled by. “Yeah…I’m fine.”
“Good.” She was back to her curt responses and silent authority.
It was hard to say the words out loud, and I wasn’t sure why. “Thank you for saving my life.”
With that, she looked away and ignored what I said.
That hurt a lot more than I’d expected it to. Probably because I was vulnerable. Probably because it had felt as if there was something between us for the first time. Probably because it had felt as if she’d cared…for a fleeting moment. “I’ll let you get some rest—”
“Elora.” She turned back to me, the tension stark in her face. “I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you all these years. I wish I were stronger. I wish I could get his face out of my mind every time I look at you.”
My hands clutched together in my lap.
“It’s not fair to you. You’re a victim in this as much as I am.”
We’d never spoken of this. Not once. Not ever. “Why did you keep me…?”
She held my gaze, possessing Huntley’s blue and domineering eyes. “I didn’t know who had fathered my child, my husband or my tormentor. Without knowing for certain, I couldn’t take that route.”
“So, if you had known…you would have done it.”
She held my gaze for a long time. “I don’t know, Elora. Once I’d felt life in my womb, I’m not sure if I would have had the ability to snuff it out. After you were born, I took a look at your green eyes and knew exactly what you were. I'd prayed that I’d had one final gift from my husband, another son or a daughter that I could love. But you weren’t, so…I was devastated. I put the blame on you—the person who wasn’t responsible.”
The tears were held back because I refused to shed them, to look heartbroken.
“You’re a lot like me, but I’ve always refused to see it. You’re strong. You’re brave. You’re exactly the kind of daughter who would make me proud every single day. But because of the circumstances…I never acknowledged it.”
I dropped my eyes to my hands in my lap, needing to break eye contact to keep my composure.
“But that motherly instinct is still there. It was there when I raised you instead of abandoning you to an orphanage. It was there when I saw Haldir come down on you and I put myself in harm’s way. It’s always been there.”
My breaths turned deep and uneven.
“It’s hard, to love the child that you were forced to have. It’s hard to look in their eyes and see someone you don’t love.”
“I understand.” I finally found the strength to speak. “If it were me…I would have struggled too.”
A flash of softness moved into her eyes. “You’re wise enough to see my perspective.”
“I act like I don’t care, like it’s never bothered me that I haven’t had parents, but it has…”
“I know.”
“I don’t know what I would have done without Huntley and Ian…”