Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 52915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
I am impressed. More than impressed, I am outright enchanted. What started off as a terrifying ordeal is turning out to be very fucking cool. I whisper those words under my breath as I enter the castle.
“Very fucking cool.”
“Yes,” King Charming says, apparently having heard me. “Yes. It really is exceptionally fucking rad. This castle was built by my ancestors, stone by stone, some of it carved from and into the mountain, other materials brought in by boat along the river below, and lifted into place… You don’t need to know every single detail, do you?”
“I want to hear every single detail,” I say. “I want to know everything. How a ship flies through space, between planets…”
“We travel on solar tides,” he says, as if that explains it.
“I study philosophy, so… I don’t know what that means. At all. But it sounds like it makes sense.”
We are walking through a hall now, one that is wide enough to let at least ten people pass abreast at the same time. But the hall, like the dock outside, is empty. I notice that most of the doors are closed and have the appearance of being bolted shut. In spite of the slight air of abandonment, I do not get the sense that the castle is empty. I get the feeling that everybody here is hiding.
“They fear the dragon.” Charming answers me before I ask the question that has been lingering on my lips from the moment we arrived. The where is everybody question. “When the dragon has been here and gone again, they will emerge from hiding, but for now, let me show you the chamber we will share.”
To reach that chamber, we leave the hall and enter a winding staircase which rises in a steep spiral, taking me higher and higher. The staircase grows slowly narrower, until we are forced to go one behind the other. King Charming ushers me forward and takes the rear. I feel his elegant, powerful presence behind me with every step until we reach a door with a golden dragon seal upon it. Charming reaches past me and pushes it open to reveal a great room at the top of one of the tallest towers. It is circular, with leadlight windows placed around it at regular intervals. There is a four-poster bed larger than any bed I have seen before, with golden curtains arranged around it in a way that they can be drawn to provide privacy. Three doors exist here, the one we came through, one that appears to lead to the outside given the revelation of the windows next to it, and another one off to the side. I deduce that’s probably the bathroom.
“We can decorate this room as you see fit,” King Charming says, and I have a brief flash of imagining I’m on one of those tv shows where people look at houses in exotic locations that they can’t afford and complain about the kitchens. I can’t imagine changing anything in this perfect fairytale bedchamber.
“It’s beautiful,” I say, overwhelmed at all that has happened to me. I glance over at the king, somewhat nervous. I know what that bed is to be used for. That is our marriage bed. That is where…
GRRRRRRRrrrrr…
A rumble comes from somewhere nearby. It sounds like a distant creature growing closer very quickly. It is strange, because I cannot discern where the sound is coming from, there is no particular direction. It is almost as though the sound is coming directly from the king himself, though that is impossible. Perhaps it is coming from above. Or maybe below.
“What is happening?” There is a tremor to my voice, and a look of concern on his handsome face. That worries me more than the sound does. The king is afraid, and he does not seem like a man often given to fear.
“The dragon is coming,” he says. “I knew he was not far away. He has been at our heels all this time, chasing us from one realm to the next. He is a hungry beast who will not remain unsatisfied for long. Let me see if I cannot chase him off for now. Stay here and bar the door. No matter what happens, do not open it. Not under any circumstances. When I return, I will call your name, Emmaline, three times. Do not open this door until then. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
He leaves, stepping not back into the castle, but out onto a great balcony which frankly looks more like a landing place or perhaps a perch for a very large bird. It is quite long, like a pier is. Perhaps it is a small sky-dock. That would make sense. A king would no doubt prefer to come and go as he pleases than be obliged to use the larger public dock all the time.