Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
The pace was quick, not a run but a very fast walk. Hours passed, and nothing was said. Everyone focused on getting to their destination as quickly as possible…whatever that destination might be.
“Why can’t you tell me where we’re going?” I tired out quicker than the men, so my pace started to slacken. Mastodon always stayed behind me, though, his eyes drilling into my back. “If you’re going to kill me anyway, what’s the harm?”
“If I’m going to kill you anyway, what does it matter where we’re going?”
“Because I want to know how much more of this torture I should expect.”
“Walking is torture?” he asked with his deep voice. “Definitely a princess…”
I rolled my eyes just for my own benefit. “Answer me.”
“I’m not your servant.”
“Asking someone a question doesn’t imply they’re a servant.” This time, I stopped and turned around. “I’m not acting entitled. You’re acting touchy. That’s the problem here. I’m sorry that I was born into power and you weren’t. It’s not fair, but that’s how the world works sometimes.”
He laughed. Actually laughed. A deep chuckle reverberated against the walls, echoing up and down the underground path. His mouth was in a smirk from his laughter, but his eyes had never looked so sinister.
“What?”
“Trust me, I know how the world works. And you’re about to learn the same.”
The deeper we traveled, the colder it became. The sun could only penetrate the top layers of the soil, but down here among solid rock, there was no heat, no source of energy. The ground began to shine like glitter, the ice particles locked in place within the walls.
I started to shiver.
After a long trek with little conversation, we stopped for the night.
But there was no way I could sleep, not under these conditions, not when the rock underneath me was like a frozen piece of ice. “I can keep going if you want to cover more ground.” I sat on the ground against the wall, my ass frozen.
Ian ate a couple pieces of bread with a dried-out piece of meat and stared at me as he chewed.
No one addressed what I said.
I guess I had my answer.
Mastodon whispered something to his brother before he unrolled his bedroll and lay down. He was on his back, his swords still attached to his belt.
Ian continued to eat, eyes on me.
“You mind?”
“Mind what?” he asked, his mouth full of food.
“Stop staring at me.”
“Mastodon told me not to underestimate you. And I won’t.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Go to sleep.”
“How?” I asked incredulously. “You see me shaking, right?”
He shrugged and took another bite.
“I said, stop staring.”
“Mastodon stares, and you don’t have a problem with it.”
“Trust me, I don’t like that either, but—”
“But what?”
I didn’t have an answer. “I guess I’m just used to it…” With my arms crossed over my chest, I felt my body tremble, felt my teeth chatter. This wasn’t a mind-over-body situation where I could just conquer the elements by sheer will. With every passing minute, my body was being conquered, the cold moving further into my flesh.
Ian tossed a couple pieces of jerky at me.
I took them without acknowledgment and scarfed everything down like a dog that just got a bone. I was too tired and too cold to have any dignity right now, so I took it in stride. The pleasure from the food was momentary, and the cold set in once more.
I started to fade in and out, never really awake, but never really asleep either. My eyes were slightly open, and I thought I saw Ian in front of me. But it must have been a dream because I couldn’t feel anything.
Then I felt a warm hand to my cheek, a touch so soothing that I sucked in a deep breath.
“She’ll freeze to death.” I recognized Mastodon’s deep voice.
“I feel fine,” Ian said. “She’s weak.”
“No. She just weighs a hundred pounds, and we weigh more than double that.” He gripped my arms and gave me a shake.
My eyes snapped open, and I sucked in another deep breath.
His hands moved over my body, from my cheeks to my wrists to my ankles. “You’re going to die if you don’t do what I tell you.”
“Isn’t…isn’t that what you want?”
“Yes, but not like this.” His hands clamped down on my wrists, hot like a pot on the stove.
“Ooh…that’s nice.”
He pulled his hands away, and then I was immediately frozen once again. My eyes closed because I was too weak to keep them open.
“Get her up,” Mastodon ordered.
I felt my body lift entirely on its own, like I could fly.
I was carried to the other side of the path, where the men were sleeping. My eyes opened and closed, somewhat understanding my surroundings. Ian lowered me to the ground, on top of a bedroll.
It was warm. Infinitely warmer than it’d been on the stone floor.