Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
“And that is?” I asked.
“I’m your babysitter for tonight. Granny said you had to go looking for flowers in the wood. She doesn’t want you to stray too far and think about running.”
And just like that, my tight hold on my unenthusiastic responses cracked. I wanted to reach out, grab his neck, and shake him.
“Seriously! I got off course one time and everyone assumes I was trying to make a break for it. One time in fifteen years. Do you know why it is so fucking annoying?”
His brow furrowed. “I don’t care.”
“Oh no?” I stepped forward in a rush of anger and jabbed him in the chest. He flinched, stepping off the porch. “I’ll tell you anyway, how’s that? Quite frankly, I’m incredibly insulted that you all would assume, that Granny would assume, I was trying to escape, like this was some sort of cage. I get the reason for needing an escort to the Outside. I understand what would happen to me if the wrong people figured out who I was. I’m fine with all that. I’ve agreed to it. But to assume I would run . . .?”
Tears threatened to well in my eyes. It almost felt like a betrayal that Granny still kept on about my leaving the path, as though I couldn’t be trusted. As though I’d just up and leave my family in the middle of the night. Because she was all I had now. She’d saved me, given me a home, and she was as close to a real granny as I’d ever had. It hurt that she would assume it meant so little to me that I’d walk away without a backward glance.
“I thought she’d had better faith in me than that,” I finished, my lower lip trembling. “I’d thought we had better trust in each other.” I hesitated at his intense look. “Granny and me, obviously. Not you. You’d probably brain me right now if you could, and smile while you did it.”
“I’d fuck you first—”
“But her?” I shook my head, looking to the side. “Why would I run? Forget that I have nowhere to go, but what would I be running from?”
I turned to look at him again, seeing the answer in his eyes. Him. The punishments. The parts of this village that were a little harder to bear.
“Well, whatever.” I wiped my forearm across my nose. “I wasn’t running. I won’t run. Because again, I have nowhere to go, okay? Happy? This village is my home.”
Alexander lifted his hands, his eyes wide. “Wow,” he said slowly. Then, “Are you on your period or something?”
I dug my fingernails into my palms. “Fuck off,” I said, turning and slamming the door in his face.
“Fine, but we still gotta get flowers,” he said through the door. “How long you gonna be?”
I ate and cleaned up, wanting to take my time to annoy him but also wanting to get out into the forest and look for those flowers. The longer I wasted in my cottage, the less time for the flower hunt.
After packing a few random supplies, like a canister of water and a bit of dried fruit and nuts in case the night ran long, I grabbed my lantern and swung the door open. Alexander sat on my top step, looking out at the lane. Pati from up the way was passing by. Usually she’d glance up when I came out of the cottage and spare me a tight smile, but this time she hunched and looked down at her feet. Her shoulders were tensed, her whole body rigid.
“You’re a big favorite around these parts,” I said, stepping out and closing the door behind me.
He got up slowly, staring after her. “I had to pay her good-for-nothin’ mate a visit the last time I was here. He was trying to smuggle out some—“ He slid me a side-eye. “More to follow after you suck my cock.”
“I’d better not. Small items are a choking hazard.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Like you can talk, anyway,” he said, following me. I knew exactly where I planned to start looking. “Anyone giving you the time of day in this village is only interested in one thing, your skinny little pal Xarion included.”
“My witty banter, is it? My hilarious jokes?”
“Spreading your thighs. That’s the only thing you’re good for.”
“Lovely. But untrue, right? My work gives you a job. My ingenuity affords your lifestyle.”
He ignored me. Alexander was only good with his fists. When it came to sparring mentally, he didn’t have any weapons.
“Shit detail, this,” he finally said as we cut through the village. No one looked our way, their gazes directed downward. “Hunting for fucking flowers in the trees?” He spat. “Why we going this way? You have flowers near your hovel.”
“My hovel?” I huffed. The guy lived in a shanty not far from Granny. Was he really throwing stones? “Because the Moonfire Lilies tend to group together and I want to go to the place I found the last one. Hopefully I’ll be able to find a few that way.”