Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
That it wouldn't be seemly for someone in the ruling house to have a gladiator. A ruling house. That sounds like...Congress-type bullshit. Oh god, is Zhur a politician? Ugh. No wonder he can be so insufferable at times. Politics are the worst.
But he refuses to talk about it. The moment I ask him about the whole “ruling house” slip, he immediately changes the subject back to Nassakth, the Scourge of some planet and now the Bane of my conversations.
"Do you think that's his farm?" Zhur asks, pointing at my neighbor's homestead as I pull the sled up to my house. "Do you think it's possible we could be living across from him?"
The man practically bounces in his seat, all seven feet of him.
"Bring it down a notch, Stan," I joke. "And no, that's not where he lives. I met the lady that lives there and she has no kids and no husband." She also didn't want anything to do with me, or anyone else for that matter.
Skyler is what we like to call "a cave troll.” She's the most hermit-y of hermits and I got the message quickly from her when she met me at the door with a stun-stick. She does not want to be friends.
And before my goofball new husband gets any ideas, I need to warn him. "Don't get any ideas about going over to her place, by the way. If I knew where Nassakth lived, I'd take you there. But you want to avoid Skyler. She's trigger-happy."
"I do not know what that means...and who is Stan?" Before I can answer, he continues on. "We shall have to meet in a neutral situation of some kind. A fete or gala of some sort. You have those here, yes?"
"Whoa, whoa," I say, parking the sled and putting a hand on him before he can jump out. With my luck, he'd go running for the hills, searching for his hero. "Zhur, what happened to laying low?"
"You are right. Still...I will never forgive myself if I leave this place without meeting the formidable Nassakth."
He didn't even bat an eye about leaving. Didn't even pause. "You don't even know that it's him."
"It must be." Zhur's eyes are bright with excitement. "This is the first thing that has brought me joy since I arrived, Maeve. What a stroke of luck."
"Wow." I put my hands in the air and then shake my head. "You know what? I think this conversation is done."
"I-I did not mean it like that."
Sure he didn't. I get out of the sled and head for the house, oddly hurt. I mean, meeting me is definitely less of a thrill ride than say, a famous wrestler, but I've tried really hard to help him out and you'd think he's been suffering in chains and a concrete cell for the last week with nothing but a stale crust of bread to eat. He's been sleeping in my bed. In my barn (which is nicer than the set-up I had when I was held captive). He's been using up my shampoo and eating my food. I helped him dye his hair and cut it.
The fucker masturbated all over my doors and yet this brings him joy? Yeah, I'm peeved.
"Why are you mad, Maeve? You know I don't want to be here." He follows after me. "Why should I not feel joy when I hear that Nassakth is here, too?"
I push my way into the house, not bothering to see if he's following me inside. He either will or he won't, and I tell myself I don't care. "Maybe you should sleep in the barn tonight. Nassakth might have wiped his ass on some of the hay."
"That is an exceedingly unlikely scenario, and why would I sleep in the barn?" Zhur sounds confused. "We are married now. Are you upset about something?"
I say nothing, gritting my teeth.
Realization dawns on him and he moves in front of me, blocking my path before I can storm to my bedroom. "You are jealous."
"Pfft. I am not."
But Zhur has this idea in his head now and he won't let it go. "You are, aren't you? You are upset that I am not beside myself with joy at being stranded here with you. That I should be thrilled to live in the dirt alongside you. Is that what it is?"
He keeps smiling and I want to punch him in his stupid cat mouth. "How about a little gratitude, that's all?"
"If we are asking for others to not do things that bother us, can I ask you not to open any more drugs from strangers? Because clearly one of us is far more susceptible than the other."
I scowl at him.
"And then I end up sleeping in the barn."
I keep scowling.
"With the excreters."
"Are we done with this conversation?"
"I don't know. Are you going to admit that you're jealous of my excitement over the possibility of meeting my hero?" He crosses his arms over his chest and waits for an answer.