Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
With a graceful sweep of his black-and-gray wings, Nektas descended from above, landing in front of the thrones just as he had during our coronation.
This time, I was prepared for when he swept his wings back over our heads, and his front talons slammed down on the edge of the dais. The thick frills around his head vibrated as a sound like thunder rolled from him. He prowled forward, narrowly avoiding Bele and the twins as his tail whipped across the dais to curl at the foot of the thrones.
Nektas surveyed the crowd as he lowered himself onto his belly, his horned head resting on the dais’s edge.
The draken sure did love his impressive arrivals.
I looked up from where Nektas remained. The draken along the colonnade lowered their wings and waited as those below lifted their heads. Their faces were a blur to me, and the next breath I took was a little thinner but not too bad.
Following Ash’s instructions from this morning, I cleared my throat. Eather throbbed throughout my body, and when I spoke, I felt the raw energy in my voice. “You may rise.”
I watched as they rose in silence all across the coliseum floor. My gaze landed on a woman and man near the front. A young boy, maybe ten or eleven years old, stood between them. The adults’ faces were guarded, maybe even nervous, and they each had a hand on one of the boy’s shoulders. But he…
He trembled as he stared up at the thrones, his amber eyes wide. However, he didn’t look afraid. My breath caught as I recognized the emotion on his face.
Part of me had expected to see uncertainty and unease, and I wouldn’t have blamed them if they felt that way. Only those who had called Lethe home knew about me, but none of them expected me to rise as the true Primal of Life. And those who’d just come to the Shadowlands had no idea what to expect from me. They didn’t know if I would be any different. Better. Or worse.
But there was none of that in the expressions of those below.
Many of the faces showed various degrees of wonder and maybe even a little disbelief, echoing the awe I saw in the boy’s expression. The acceptance. The devotion. Seeing that stunned me because, gods, I didn’t feel like I’d done much to earn it.
But I could change that.
We would show them.
But, I couldn’t do it like this. I twisted to Ash, and his eyes immediately met mine. “I don’t want to do this while sitting on a throne,” I whispered.
“We don’t have to,” he answered, a faint curve in his lips appearing. “How do you want to do this?”
“I…I want to be closer to them.”
“Then that is what we shall do,” he replied.
“Okay.” I glanced back at the crowd and rose on slightly trembling legs. I stepped down from the throne, mindful of Nektas’s tail, and waited for Ash to join me.
Holding my gaze, he offered me his hand once more. Together, we crossed the dais.
“Sorry,” I murmured to Rhain as we passed him. He watched in confusion as we stopped closer to the edge of the dais. The people below crowded forward. As I looked out over the gathering, I didn’t take a breath, I didn’t think. I just spoke.
“I’m sure many of you are wondering what we’re doing right now,” I said.
“I know I am,” Bele muttered under her breath.
I pretended I didn’t hear her as I continued. “I didn’t feel comfortable sitting all the way back there and having to yell for any of you to hear me.”
There was a wave of scattered chuckles, and I saw several quick grins and amused looks being exchanged. “Anyway,”—I cleared my throat—“we wanted to thank you all for coming together on such short notice,” I said, ignoring the slight quiver in my voice. “I’m sure my Ascension has come as a surprise to many of you—or actually, all of you.” My cheeks flushed, but I pushed on. “And many of you are uncertain of what is to come. We called you all here today to assuage those concerns.”
I glanced at Ash, and he nodded for me to continue. “First, we wanted to say that we know the risks many of you took to travel to Lethe, and we are…inspired by that.” My gaze flickered over the crowd, and my throat thickened with emotion that even caught me off guard. “And we are humbled. Truly. All of you are welcome here and are under our protection, as are all those who call Lethe their home. We are working on ensuring that each of you will have shelter and food.”
“Land has already been set aside, and fields are being plowed to plant crops while additional housing is built,” Ash continued, his voice far steadier than mine as he surveyed the crowd. “When winter comes, it may be a hard one.”