Total pages in book: 208
Estimated words: 209645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1048(@200wpm)___ 839(@250wpm)___ 699(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1048(@200wpm)___ 839(@250wpm)___ 699(@300wpm)
“Of course they like you,” I said.
He made no reply, just gave me a squeeze. But the skin around his eyes softened.
“And that sounds remarkable,” I continued.
“It is,” he agreed. “Mighty trees with these beautifully carved doors in the trunks, dozens upon dozens of them. I can only stick my head in and look up in most of them. Some of the bigger ones, I can enter, only crouched low. But they’re extraordinary and they’d be most proud to show you.”
“I would like that,” I said softly. “And the Lights?”
“Direct in the middle of Great Thicket,” he shared. “There’s a tall rise there, and I do not know what causes it, you can’t see them anywhere else in Wodell, but some nights, the skies dance with lights. Bright pinks and blues and greens and violets. The sprites have hung lights in the trees that are attuned to the dancing lights. When the skies light up, little balls illuminate in the trees. It doesn’t happen every night. It doesn’t even happen often. But when it does, it’s magnificent.”
“It sounds so,” I agreed, for it did. I’d never heard of anything like it.
“We shall hope it happens when we’re there. And we’ll remain if they don’t, for a time, to see if they will. There’s a charming village close by with an inn that has warm, inviting rooms and a pub where they make delicious pies and sandwiches. There’s also a bakery that makes chocolate custard swirls, the best in Wodell. And a shop that sells crystals from all over the earth. Even the Northlands and Southlands and Mystics.”
“I may wish to go there just for the village.”
His face grew gentle and he used the backs of his knuckles to stroke up on down my arm, murmuring, “You need some magic, sweets. And you need some time. Last, you need to fall in love with your new home.”
“The Beast is rising, True,” I reminded him.
“And if he rises, we shall find a temple, wed immediately and join the others. Cassius and Elena can do the same. We do not need parades and grandeur and spectacle. All we need is you and me.”
All we need is you and me.
He was right.
But I wished it was that simple.
And that was what he truly wanted, a him and me.
“This is true,” I murmured.
“In Wodell, it’s my understanding a woman dreams about the man she’ll marry and her wedding day from the time she’s wee. As she grows older, she plans and hopes and says prayers to the gods to bring her the man who’ll make those dreams come true, and a wedding that will represent the start of a life filled with joy. Do girls think of these things in Firenze?”
I nodded.
“Did you?” he asked.
I pressed my lips together, for I did.
I’d wanted a man like King Ares.
A man who was handsome and tall and strong. A man who was wise. A man who was not afraid to show affection. A man who loved his wife and son above all, but his country and his people held a powerful place in his heart. A man who did not concern himself with what others thought of him, if he believed what he was doing was right, that was all he needed.
A man like True.
His gorgeous green eyes watched me bite my lip, and he said, “You did.”
I fought squirming and started, “True—”
His gaze came again to mine. “Sadly, I cannot give you the wedding of your dreams. I could not wrest the planning of this wedding from my mother if I had a thousand oxen. It will be the spectacle she set her secretaries to organizing with lists on scrolls three stories tall before we left for Firenze.”
“Three stories tall?” I asked with big eyes.
He grinned again and moved his hand so his knuckles were stroking my jaw.
“I exaggerate, sweetling. Though I’ll warn you, in matters such as this, my mother does not think small.”
“In matters such as this, matters that involve her son who will be king.”
“Precisely. Therefore, I do believe she will not demur should I say we need more time, for that gives her more time to make something grand into something ostentatious.”
I wrinkled my nose.
He chuckled and said, “We will survive it. But before we have to do that, we will do something else. Something for us. I cannot give you the wedding of your dreams, but I can give you that.”
He could give me that.
Gnomes and lights in the sky and chocolate custard swirls.
It sounded amazing.
“Thank you, True,” I whispered.
“It will be my pleasure, darling,” he whispered in reply.
I slid up a bit and asked, “Do you think your people will take to me?”
“Farah, the instant your feet crossed the Dellish border, you became the most beautiful woman in this realm. The men will love you and envy me. The women will either love you and emulate you or hate you simply because they wish they were you.”