Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
I gritted my teeth against the intense wave of jealousy at that thought. It was unwelcome.
Once we docked, I’d start carving a new me out of the hard stuff that now seemed lodged within. I needed to find that personal, inner power Hadriel spoke of.
I needed to keep surviving until I could pay for my crimes.
Chapter 5
Aurelia
“Fuck, am I glad to get off this boat,” Hadriel said later that day as he shoved past me.
“It’s a ship, dingle-dick,” Nova told him.
“I don’t give a shit what it is as long as it lets me off.” He waded through more people to get to the gangplank as fast as possible.
“Dante, when you gonna finish that book?” Tanix called back from near the front of the line.
“I would’ve already finished it if you hadn’t kept asking questions,” Dante responded from his location back near me.
Tanix, Sixten and Niven—one of the guys I’d stuck an axe in when they invaded the village—had joined the read-through, with Hadriel occasionally sitting in, too. We’d had to start over, and then Tanix had asked questions about every plot hole he found and those he made up. We would never have been able to finish by the time we arrived, but Tanix made sure we’d only gotten halfway.
“Things need to make sense,” Tanix said.
“They do make sense, you’re just too dense to see that,” Sixten replied.
Weston emerged near the front of the line, in the space people were leaving for the captain to make ready to depart. Everyone quieted down; they were so much more reserved when he was around. I got now why he removed himself from their company during meals and why he didn’t take his leisure around them. It truly was a lonely life as a good alpha, one that respected the needs of his pack.
Weston looked everyone over, his gaze landing on me for a moment before he turned around and waited for the captain. Once everything was set, Weston disembarked like he owned the world. The sun shone on his dirty blond hair, highlighting it like a crown. His broad shoulders were pushed back, his bearing straight with measured, purposeful steps.
“He’s really good at looking like he’s in charge,” I murmured as we followed along like a herd of cattle.
“He’s had his whole life to learn.” Dante grabbed my upper arm to maintain our proximity in the bustling crowd. It was clear the pack wanted to be off the ship and headed for home as fast as possible. “Here’s how this is going to go. You’re going to put your hands in front of you like they are bound. You’re going to walk with me, keeping your hands like that, until we stop in the first village. We’ll be treating you like a captive, because of both Granny’s threat and because the people here won’t like you very much. We need to keep up appearances until you can stand in front of the dragon royalty. Okay?”
“Weston explained this at breakfast.”
“Yes, but you’ve been very obtuse toward him lately, and we all just want to make sure everything goes smoothly. Your life is literally on the line.”
“Obtuse?” I turned to him with raised eyebrows. “That’s what he said?”
Dante’s grin made me huff and turn to the front.
“No,” he replied. “He said ‘distant.’ I just wanted to see if that axe wielder was still in there.”
“Now more than ever.”
“Atta girl.”
The horses and supplies were already waiting, the disembarkation having been planned remarkably well. Those who were riding mounted up, and the rest of us filed in to walk near the carts. Dante would serve as my guard, so his horse was being led by Hadriel, who wouldn’t let the stable hand near it.
As we waited to move, I got my first look at the dragon kingdom. Docks stretched out from the land and fine ships bobbed across the sprawling harbor, the wharf buzzing with life as people went about their day. The market lay beyond, not unlike the one I’d passed in the last port city, but the establishments and even the stalls here seemed so much . . . newer. Nicer. Fresh paint adorned walls; new roofs lay atop buildings. The footpaths were swept clean, no litter in sight. People wore attire ranging from decent to nice to fine, with none of the evidence of poverty I’d seen dotting the way in the last kingdom, or even in my village. It was almost as though this place was built recently.
“The first village is the farthest away from the castle in the kingdom,” Dante explained as we walked. Shapes ghosted through the trees alongside us, utterly silent and only noticed because of the feeling of danger that tingled across my skin. “It’s the smallest and used to be the poorest. Now it does a decent amount of trade. The queen was originally from there, so it has special significance because of her and her brother. Their family no longer lives there, of course.”