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)
I watched him, waiting. “What?”
He looked away, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “It’s almost like you trust him.”
My mouth dropped open. “I do not trust him.”
“Okay. That was the wrong word choice. It’s more like you’re giving him credit he does not deserve.” Ash placed his drink down and pushed off the desk. He came to me and took my hand. Lifting it, he pressed a kiss to my palm—on the marriage imprint. “I know you believe he doesn’t want war.”
“But?” I whispered.
“As long as I’ve known Kolis, he’s only wanted two things: Sotoria and to rule. His fear of harming you while taking the embers of life only held him back. Slowed him down. His plans never changed.” Eather streaked across Ash’s eyes. “His love for Sotoria, as twisted as it is, is powerful, but not as much as his thirst for power and search for retribution against those he believes wronged him.”
I lowered my gaze. “I hope you’re wrong.”
“As do I.” Mindful of the glass I held, he pulled me into his arms. “Because the Kolis I know would choose to see the realms burn before he relinquished control, and we should prepare for that.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Did you or did you not,” I began, holding the sword straight and steady, pointed directly at the fair-haired and muscular guard’s throat—“offer to train me before?”
“I did.” Kars’ gaze darted left and right as he answered tentatively. “But that was before.”
My lips pursed as I eyed him in the bright morning sunlight. “Why is now any different?”
“Well, you see…” He glanced desperately at the other guards filling the southwestern side of the courtyard. They offered no assistance. “It’s because…”
“I’m now the Queen?” I supplied for him. “Because I’m the Primal of Life? Or is it because my husband is Nyktos?” I tipped the sword so it came within an inch of the underside of his jaw. “And you’re more worried about what he will do to you if he learns you sparred with me than you are concerned with what I will do?”
“It’s none of those reasons,” Kars objected.
“He’s lying.”
Kars’ narrowed-eye gaze swung to our left. “I am not lying.”
“Yes, he is,” the quiet voice came again. “I can smell it.”
Frowning, I glanced over my shoulder at Reaver. He was seated on a large, gray boulder, his blond hair shielding most of his face as he eyed the burlap sack nestled in his lap.
Shortly after Ash had left for Vathi this morning, I’d crossed paths with Reaver and Jadis, and they had been by my side ever since. Well, he had been. Jadis…
My gaze flickered over the courtyard, looking for the girl. I found her in a few seconds.
Jadis was otherwise occupied.
The greenish-brown draken ran through the newly grown grass, trailing a strip of blue silk. I had no idea where she’d gotten that piece of cloth, which meant I probably should’ve kept a better eye on her than Pax, who trailed behind her.
It felt like forever since I’d seen the orphan Ash had brought into the Shadowlands nearly a decade ago. The fifteen-year-old now lived with a family in Lethe but spent a decent amount of time in the palace, doing odds-and-ends jobs. He eagerly tackled those tasks, and I thought it was because he liked being around Ash and wanted to prove himself useful. Maybe even show gratitude.
I refocused on Reaver. “You can smell it?”
“It’s in his sweat.” Reaver reached into the sack and rooted around. “The stench changes.”
“What the fuck?” Kars muttered.
“Language,” I warned him. “There are younglings present.”
Kars’ mouth dropped open. “Five minutes ago, you shouted that very same word.”
“I did not.”
“Really?” Kars replied dryly.
I had, in fact, yelled it. At the top of my lungs, too. But that was because I’d decided that my time was better spent training instead of pacing and waiting for Ash to return so we could go to the Thyia Plains and speak with Keella—who he’d sent word to this morning. When I first approached Bele and asked her to train with me, she had, without warning, thrown a godsdamn dagger at my head right before running back into the palace like some kind of psychotic woodland nymph—
Which reminded me of those Nektas and I had seen when we returned from the Vale. I wondered if they had changed after the balance was restored. Returning to…well, non-psychotic versions of themselves.
I needed to check on that later.
“You must be imagining things,” I said.
Reaver giggled, and the sound was so unexpected that it drew Kars’ and my attention.
The godling’s lips curled into a smile. “By the way.” Kars pointed his sword at Reaver. “I do not stink.”
“You can’t smell it, but I can.” Reaver pulled a glistening red apple from the sack—his fourth or fifth of the morning. “Your scent becomes more…bitter.”
I wondered if I should intervene with his snacking because that seemed like a whole lot of apples. But apples were healthy, weren’t they?