Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
I tear off a hunk of my bread and dip it into my soup. “Will I be expected to attend this ball?”
“As the special guest of my court, you’ll be invited to come, and as the princess of the shadow court, you’ll be expected to make an appearance. But, Jasalyn”—I lift my head and meet his eyes, so lovely and so serious all of a sudden—“expectations and invitations aside, I hope you’ll come because you choose to. I hope you’ll come as my friend.”
My name rests on the tip of my tongue. Felicity. Call me Felicity. But I swallow it back like the painful truth that it is.
Chapter Fifteen
Jasalyn
I DON’T KNOW IF IT’S the fresh air, the comforting closeness of Kendrick’s body, or simple logic, but by the time the sun is sinking toward the horizon, my panic from the morning has dissipated. There’s no way I killed all those rebels.
I remember my night very clearly. I went home with Kendrick and climbed in bed. The fact that those people are dead is nothing more than an unsettling coincidence.
It has to be. People have been dying all over the court. The deaths among this group are no different.
“Are we stopping soon?” I ask, only because my stomach is growling loud enough that even Remme can hear it from two horses ahead of us.
Skylar frowns into the distance. “Shae should’ve joined us by now.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Kendrick says. “Remme, what are our lodging options?”
“We passed the last good one about an hour back,” he says.
I squeak. “What? Why?”
“Our friend was supposed to meet us on the road this afternoon,” Kendrick explains. “He was going to take us to a place to stay for the night.”
“I don’t like it,” Skylar says, hand on her forehead shielding her eyes from the setting sun as she scans the horizon. “What if they—”
“Don’t think like that,” Remme says.
“We’ll find a place to make camp here,” Kendrick says. “Remme, if we haven’t seen him by morning, I want you to ride ahead and see what you can find out.”
“I could go now,” Remme says.
“No. I don’t want anyone out there alone after dark. Not with what’s going on.”
I glance up at the cloudy sky and a prickle of dread crawls across the back of my neck. I’ve never felt afraid of whatever’s been killing the Unseelie, but I’m pretty sure none of the dead was scared either. “I thought you said it was too dangerous to camp.”
“Tonight it’s our best option,” Kendrick says, frowning toward the trees. “I’d rather make camp now than ride another two hours to arrive in a strange town in the dark.”
Half an hour later, we’ve made camp in a small clearing surrounded by trees and Kendrick has some sort of stew bubbling over the fire. I don’t know what’s in it, but it smells amazing. The others are in the forest gathering more supplies to feed the fire overnight, and I’m cutting apples to go with our meal.
“I am sorry, for what it’s worth,” he says. “Our friend was supposed to have a house for us to stay at tonight—one with soft beds and clean tubs. You deserved the reprieve.”
“What about you?” I ask, glancing up at him.
“I can sleep anywhere, but I wanted to give you a night of comfort—and a safe place to stay before we reach the keep.”
“I don’t need anything that the others can do without.”
He stirs the stew, quiet for so long I think the conversation must be over, but then he finally says, “Are you sure you want to go?” He draws in a ragged breath. “When I asked you to come, I hadn’t seen your scars. He hurt you there—hurt you in a way I still don’t fully understand. I don’t want you to face that if it’s not necessary.”
My skin goes cold, and I drop my knife. “Are you talking about Mordeus’s dungeons?”
“Yes. Feegus Keep.” When I turn to meet his gaze, he frowns. “You didn’t know.”
I shake my head. “No. I wasn’t sure where they were. For a long time, I assumed they were in the Midnight Palace.”
“The palace dungeons there were too civilized for Mordeus’s liking.” He grabs a stick and nudges the logs beneath the pot of stew, adjusting the flames.
“I know that now.” I turn back around and stare straight ahead so he can’t see my eyes. “I lived at the Midnight Palace for over a year before I had the courage to walk down to the dungeons. I’d sit in my room at night, terrified of the dark hole beneath the place my sister claimed was our true home. I’d have nightmares of waking up in my old cell.”
With a curse, Kendrick abandons our dinner and comes to stand in front of me. His blue eyes burn into mine as he takes my hand and threads our fingers together.