Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
“Crystal,” Elijah replied stoically.
“Good.” Chaney pivoted to face where Elijah stood, unclasping his hands. “I’m well aware that a group arrived recently. I may call them visitors. You might refer to them as ‘those returning to the keep.’ Semantics. So, I will let that slide. A young woman traveled with them. Where is she?”
I exhaled roughly, feeling nothing but a sense of rising dread.
It was Magda who spoke. “There was no woman that returned recently, my Lord.”
My fingers dug into the bark as Chaney stared at her, too far away for me to read his expression. Even though I already knew what would happen, I opened my senses and stretched out, forming the intangible connection with the Lord.
I felt nothing. Vast. Endless. Empty. And it had been the same for the empath warriors, who were far stronger than I? Did the Ascended have no mortal emotions at all? Tiny bumps pimpled my skin as I shifted my senses toward Elijah. The moment I connected with him, I felt the hot, acidic burn of anger, and the iron taste of steely determination. He wasn’t afraid. Not at all. I pulled my gift back.
Chaney snapped his fingers, and one of the knights stepped forward, opening the carriage door. I frowned, leaning forward as a slight form came into view, shoulders curved in, head bowed.
“Oh, my gods,” I whispered, jerking back from the tree so fast that I lost my balance.
Casteel caught me before I toppled over. “Steady,” he murmured.
“It’s Mrs. Tulis,” I told him, stunned.
“You need to go underground.” He started to turn me.
I dug in my feet. “No.”
“You don’t need to see this,” he argued.
But I had to.
I had to see this.
Casteel cursed, but he didn’t force me to move.
Wearing nothing but a frayed, worn gown, the woman stopped a few feet from the carriage. She trembled so badly that I wondered how she remained standing. The wind tugged at the knot of her hair, lifting the strands that had already fallen. Her arms were curled around her chest—her empty arms.
“Where is her son?” I asked. Casteel shook his head when I looked at him.
“Tell me again, Mrs. Tulis,” Chaney said, stopping once more. “Who arrived here just a few days ago?”
“It w-was the Maiden,” she stammered, and my heart dropped. “The C-Chosen. She came with others from Masadonia.” She took a tentative step toward Elijah. “I’m sorry. He—”
“That’s enough, Mrs. Tulis.” That was all Chaney needed to say, and she quieted at once, sinking into herself. “I’m sure all of you know who the Maiden is. She was being escorted to the capital. And as I’m sure you already know, New Haven is not part of the route one normally takes to get there. Stopping here wasn’t part of the plan.”
“There’s no Maiden here. Not in any sense of the word,” Elijah said, and a few of those standing in line chuckled.
“His mouth,” murmured Casteel, “will be the death of him one day.”
I feared that one day might come sooner than later when Chaney seemed to inhale deeply. “So, you say she’s a liar?” he asked.
“All I’m saying is that there’s no Maiden in this keep,” Elijah answered, which technically wasn’t a lie.
“All right.” Chaney nodded and then moved fast like all Ascended could, almost as quickly as an Atlantian. One moment he was standing several feet from Mrs. Tulis. The next, he was behind her, his fingers sinking into her wind-swept hair. A vicious crack sounded as he jerked her head to the side.
Lurching forward, I clamped my hands over my mouth to silence the shout building in my throat. Elijah made a move toward the Lord, but he drew up short as several of the knights pulled their swords.
With wide, disbelieving eyes, I watched Lord Chaney lift his hands. Mrs. Tulis crumpled to the ground in a boneless heap at his feet. Even after seeing the underground chamber with all those names, I couldn’t…I couldn’t have prepared myself for what I saw. He’d snapped her neck. Just like that. He’d killed her as if she meant nothing, as if her life had no value. Slowly, I lowered my hands.
“Why?” Magda said, her fingers pressed to her rounded belly. “Why would you do that?”
Lord Chaney stepped over Mrs. Tulis’s body as if she were nothing, absolutely forgettable. “Why would she go unpunished for lying?”
Oh, gods. A shudder racked me. She hadn’t been lying. Magda knew that. All of them knew that.
“Unless it was you who is lying,” he said. “And the only reason I can come up with for that is that several of you—or all of you—are Descenters. Like the one you accused of lying. After all, she once lived in Masadonia but disappeared along with her husband and son shortly before the Rite and after their very public request to refuse the Rite was denied. Her death was quick and just.”