Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1004(@200wpm)___ 803(@250wpm)___ 669(@300wpm)
She leans in and kisses me on the cheek. “You’re the best, Jasina. The absolute best.”
I smile and then turn, not bothering to put something on over my corset and drawers. It’s just us Little Sisters in the dorm and anyway, we’re tucked so far in back there’s no chance anyone will see me.
I make my way to the nearest sewing room, then rush over to a machine. I haven’t had a chance to work the electric machines yet, but once I figure out how to turn the power on, it’s pretty much the same as the foot-pedal model I grew up with. There are a lot of settings for fancy stitches that I have no clue how to use, but I don’t need a fancy stitch to make a hem repair.
The mending goes quickly and soon, it’s done. I stand up, gather up the dress, and I’m just about to head back in the direction of our space when I spy the spine of a book sticking out from a bookshelf just a few feet from me.
It’s… enticing. Almost deliberately so. Because who in their right mind can walk past this half-shelved book without pushing it back in?
Not me. I walk over, place my fingertip on the spine, and push it in. But as I’m doing this, I read the title. “The Godslayer and His Courtesan.” I smile and pull it back out so I can study the cover.
I know the stories. The kid’s versions, not this one—which is something much more than a child’s tale because this is a thick tome and not a picture book. It actually has a subtitle that reads: The Untold History.
Interesting. Because this implies that it’s not a myth, the way it was portrayed in the children’s book I had as a child, but something more.
I like the story because it’s a happy one. Kind of. I guess it depends on how you look at it. It starts out as a classic star-crossed lovers story, but there are adventures. Many adventures and many versions too.
I read them all as a child. The main characters never had names. Maybe in this serious version they do, but in the book I had as a child they were only known as the Godslayer and his Courtesan.
I’ve never thought about that title before. Courtesan makes sense for the girl, I guess. It’s a little derogatory, if you ask me, but OK. Godslayer though? I don’t remember ever knowing why they called him the Godslayer.
Weird.
“Jasina?”
I turn, startled, and find Ceela standing at the entrance that leads to this space. “You scared me.”
She lifts up one shoulder in a half apology. “Sorry. I just got worried when you didn’t come back.” She eyes the book I’m clutching to my chest. “What’s that?”
“A book I found sticking out of the shelf. Do you remember the story of—”
“Jasina! We don’t have time for this! Did you fix my dress?”
“Oh. Right. Yes.” I thrust it at her. “All done. Let’s go.”
I put the back on the shelf and we both scurry back to our spaces to finish getting ready.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The rest of the evening passes just as quickly as the afternoon did. After Mitch and I left the viewing room we went back downstairs to deal with last-minute preparations for the dinner, gala, and ceremony.
I wanted to see Clara. So badly. I wanted to skip out on this entire night and take her in my arms, and make love to her, and kiss her all night long and live this day like it’s a dream.
And then, maybe, when we woke up, we could’ve run away. Just walked out into the desert, leaving this whole city behind. We could’ve started over in a place with no tower and no god. Or hell, just dug a hole in the sand until we found an ancient train tunnel and spent the rest of our lives underground like the scholars who study that stuff do.
It wouldn’t matter to me. I wouldn’t care where we lived just as long as we got away from here before anything else had a chance to happen.
But it’s a pointless fantasy because it’s five minutes to seven and Mitchell, Jeyk, and I are already on our way to dinner. In five hours, the incessant bells will stop ringing and Haryet will be gone.
But how much time will that buy us? A year, like the last time?
Or will it be a week?
Will it be a day?
Maybe those bells never stop ringing?
Maybe Haryet walks through the door and they just keep going?
Maybe Clara will be gone tonight too?
It should be an absurd fear, but it’s not. Because it could actually happen.
And the worst thing is, I couldn’t do a thing about it.
Or… could I?
I stop walking halfway across the canal bridge and look at Mitch. “What happens if I refuse to let Haryet walk through the doors?”