Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1000(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 667(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1000(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 667(@300wpm)
“Certainly, Your Highness. Be safe, everyone!”
“Zorya!” Jarek snaps his fingers at the warrior, who is casting daggers at Lucretia. “Feel the need to kill something tonight?” A peace offering for his thoughtless gibe earlier.
Her eye lights up.
“We will have no more than a few seconds of surprise before we lose the edge. Be ready to return us here at my command.” Zander settles a palm on my shoulder, the other gripping his sword. Everyone follows suit in a line, their weapons of choice drawn.
“Lucretia?” I call out. And wait. “I know you’re here.”
She materializes at my side, her hand on my other shoulder, though I felt nothing. She’s lost the eye patch, at least. “I can be of great use in gathering information, Your Highness.”
“I know. That’s why I’m asking you to come with us and find out what you can. But stay hidden.”
Her grin stretches. “I will stay hidden and learn important things.”
My pulse races in my ears. I haven’t been back to Cirilea since the night we rescued all those children, since Gesine died. So much has changed.
Weaving the strands of my affinities together, I reach out to the stone.
39
Sofie
I swallow my revulsion and infuse concern into my voice. “Is your meal not to your satisfaction, my love?”
Malachi waves a dismissive hand as he chews his meat, his face twisted with displeasure. “The meal is fine.”
I wouldn’t know; I haven’t had a bite of mine. Not that he notices. I hesitate. “Then what troubles you?” He has been in a mood all day, pacing the terrace, barking at the servants. This afternoon, he insisted we stroll the city to remind people who they bow to, and when the guard didn’t present his preferred horse to him, he had him beheaded in the castle court.
“Why have I not yet received word from the Saur’goths?” His brown eyes burn with fury as they meet mine. “They should have claimed Lyndel by now, and the main force must be moving swiftly south, and yet they do not deem to keep their king informed?”
“They may be fierce in battle, but I cannot speak for their intellect.” I eye the Saur’goth nearby. I’m pretty sure I saw him ambling down the hall earlier with a rat tail dangling from his teeth. “Would you like me to send a messenger to Mal’Gar, demanding an answer?”
“Yes. Though that should have been done hours ago.”
“I am sorry to disappoint you.” I keep my eyes on my plate so he can’t see the lie in my words.
After a moment, he admits sullenly, “I cannot see what is happening elsewhere in the realm.”
“A downside to this mortal form you’ve taken, Your Highness.” His inability to watch and scheme from the outside looking in, as he has done for an eternity.
“If I had one of those winged beasts, I could fly to them,” he growls, tossing his fork to his plate with a clatter, his bitterness evident. “I should have killed Caindra when I had the chance.”
Because that would make her mate and child fly straight to you upon leaving the Nulling, you arrogant fool? I bite my tongue.
Lady Saoirse sashays to our table.
“Your Highness.” She bows deeply in front of Malachi. “It is a pleasure to see you again.” When he doesn’t acknowledge her, she turns to me. “Your Highness. You are looking … well.”
My mottled and swollen cheek is dreadful, but it is far better than last night, when Malachi’s fist split my skin because I did not display enough eagerness upon climbing into his bed.
It takes everything in me not to snarl at her. It is one thing when Malachi claims what he wants. It’s another when these devious nobilities invite it, and she is under the unwise notion that because he fucked her once, she is suddenly in his good graces. “What do you want?” Besides my husband, who is not really my husband.
She clears her throat. “The lords and ladies have been discussing a growing issue of their servants abandoning their roles. They have even gone so far as to remove their cuffs from their ears and leave them on their keepers’ doorsteps. It is an insult! One household lost half their staff last night alone, after years of providing for the ungrateful lot.”
“Servants who are treated well do not flee in the night.”
“Yes, well … with this recent change in the servants’ purpose, and with a new king and queen on the throne, these mortals seem to think their service is no longer required.”
“Are you suggesting that I am to blame for these issues?” Malachi asks coolly.
“No, Your Highness. Absolutely not.” Her curtain of perfect black hair swings with her headshake. “I … We—” She waves a hand behind her toward the rows of tables, where the nobility pretend not to hang on every word of this conversation. Did they send this simpering idiot here because she rules the second largest city in Islor or because she spread her legs for the king and queen like a monkey performing? She clears her throat, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. I almost pity her. “We were hoping you could decree that all servants remain with their keepers or face harsh punishment for abandoning those who have spent years protecting them.”