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)
“We are wombs.”
“We are wombs.”
The magic moved up, enveloping feet, ankles, calves and knees.
“We are survivors.”
“We are survivors.”
And up, to our thighs and hips.
“We are warriors.”
“We are warriors.”
And the whirlwind consumed our bodies up to our torsos.
“We are one.”
“We are one.”
“We are sisters.”
“We are sisters.”
Our hair blew and tangled together all around us as the vortex fully engulfed us.
“I have but to call, and you will be there.”
“I have but to call, and you will be there,” Farah repeated.
“I have but to call, and you will be there,” Silence intoned.
“Nothing will break us.”
“Nothing will break us.”
“We are of the blood.”
“We are of the blood.”
“We are of the moon and stars.”
“We are of the moon and stars.”
“We are of the earth and seas.”
“We are of the earth and seas.”
“We are born of magic.”
“We are born of magic.”
“We are Sisters of the Beast!”
I repeated it with them, and we all cried, “We are Sisters of the Beast!”
The cyclone grew stronger around us, slapping our clothing against our bodies, whipping our hair in our faces.
Then it flew up, carrying us off our feet several feet up into the air.
“Hold strong!” I yelled, surprised by the strength of the spell, for it was an important casting, but I’d never experienced this kind of power when in the thralls of it.
The twister forced our bodies tight together, and my sisters and I kept hold, even as a burst of energy exploded between us. It and the maelstrom rose up to the skies, whipping the branches in a frenzy above us, tearing the dying leaves from the trees while departing us.
We dropped to the earth, and our linked hands held fast kept us together and on our feet.
“Holy goddess, what the fuck?” Jasmine asked from close.
I looked about us.
All our guards were close.
The men were scowling.
Hera was smiling.
Jasmine was eyeing me.
“Sister, you are something else,” she decreed.
She was wrong.
I was not.
I looked to Silence and Farah.
We were something else.
With the astonishment I saw on their faces, I understood they knew it too.
We all smiled at each other before I let them go and linked arms with both of them, turning them back the way we came.
“Let us return.”
The guard fanned out again and we sisters walked.
“That was…that was…” Farah stammered.
“Amazing,” Silence breathed.
“I wish I could take you both to The Enchantments with me,” I told them. “I have a feeling you’d love it.”
“I have already been there, so I know I would,” Silence said. “It would just be all the better to be there with friends.
“I had never thought to journey there, but now…” Farah trailed off.
“When this is all done, we will meet there. One day,” I vowed.
“We will,” Silence agreed.
“Absolutely,” Farah said.
“With Ha-Lah too,” Silence said.
“All four. In celebration. When we vanquish the Beast,” I declared.
“I hope she is all right,” Silence put in. “Things did not seem a’tall well with her when she left with her king.”
“I will seek her, just to sense her, make sure she is all right, and when we meet on the plane, I will share,” I told them.
“If she isn’t?” Silence asked.
“We’ll figure it out then,” I murmured.
We walked.
After a time, Farah broke our silence.
“Can I…do you mind…can I…?”
She did not finish.
“Can you what?” I asked.
“True is not sleeping well,” she said on a rush.
I looked to her and Silence bent in front of me to do the same.
“There’s quite a bit happening,” Silence noted.
“It is a soldier’s burden,” Farah whispered.
I stopped, but even if I didn’t, Silence did, so we all did.
“I don’t know how to help him,” Farah announced, sounding just that.
Helpless to help True.
It did not surprise me, but nevertheless, it broke my heart to hear that True had the battle dreams.
But I liked to see how distraught it made Farah.
Not that I wished her to be distraught, or, say, more distraught after all she’d endured.
But I did like that it was clear she cared that much about True.
“He is not of them,” Silence told her.
I looked to Silence but it was Farah who spoke aloud my question.
“What?”
Silence shook her head and moved to form a huddle again.
“He is not of them. Uncle Wilmer. Aunt Mercy. Carrington. Courtiers. Castles. Pomp. Pageantry. Tradition. When you arrive at the castle, watch his face when someone bows to him. It…” She shook her head and finished on a whisper, “It always distressed me.”
“I don’t understand,” Farah whispered in return.
“He would be a shepherd, if that was his lot, and be that happily,” Silence shared. “A farmer. A forester. The keeper of an inn. He would have a hearth and a wife and a family and have naught even a line in a single tome in Go’Doan written to record his life and his mark on this earth after his passing. And he would do that with gladness in his heart, if he passed knowing in that life, he gave love and protected the ones he gave it to.”