Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 205594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1028(@200wpm)___ 822(@250wpm)___ 685(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 205594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1028(@200wpm)___ 822(@250wpm)___ 685(@300wpm)
“I suppose we do.” Reluctantly, he pulls his gaze away from the outdoors and focuses on me again. I hold my hand out to him, and he squeezes my fingers tightly. My heart aches for him. “Shall I fetch you a cup of tea? Do you need to sit?”
I shake my head, reluctant to move away from the doors. If I stand just so, there’s a drizzle of rain that brushes inward and feels lovely against my skin. “Do you see our attackers anywhere? Their bodies? Surely they must still be on the beach.”
He squints out at the sands, then gestures. “A bit of weathered clothing there. And some bones. I imagine that whatever the elements did not finish off, the sea birds did.”
Wrinkling my nose, I try not to picture that. “Horrid. Just horrid.”
“It’s what they deserved.” His unearthly eyes gleam with remembered anger. “I will not waste a moment lamenting their fates.”
Me either. But I still don’t think I’d like to be left in the sands for the birds to pick at. I hold his hand tightly and lean on his arm. “Well,” I say with a sigh. “I suppose there’s nothing to do but wait.”
“They will be here soon enough,” Nemeth reminds me. “Patience, my greedy princess.”
Right. Patience.
We stand near the doors for a time, and when my feet begin to ache, I move to the stool and sit, arranging my skirts like I’m a queen and this is my throne room. Nemeth paces, moving in and out of the shadows, his gaze constantly straying to the wide open doors. I pick at my nails, and then pick at threads on my gown as the gentle rain eases off, and the long, gray afternoon stretches. My stomach growls but I can’t find it in me to get up and go to the kitchens for food. Some small part of my mind worries that if I leave my spot by the door, I’ll miss them and nothing will be delivered.
So I remain where I am, watching as the sun briefly peeks out from behind the clouds only to disappear below the horizon. It grows dark outside, and no one comes. Not the Fellians. Not the Liosians.
I chew on my nail. “Perhaps we have the wrong day? Perhaps today isn’t the solstice after all?”
But I know it is. I checked with my knife, and I’ve been keeping careful records of the days that pass, and Nemeth does, too. We both know today is the solstice. As the sun disappears below the horizon, the great golden moon of the goddess rises in the sky, the surface milky and clouded like a child’s marble. It feels as if the goddess is glaring down at us, and I flinch at the sight.
“They must be delayed,” is all Nemeth says. “They will be here soon enough.”
We wait for longer, neither of us speaking as the stars come out and the air grows chilly with a night breeze.
“Perhaps the weather,” I begin.
“Perhaps,” Nemeth agrees. He looks over at me, and his expression is weary. Mine must be, too. “Go upstairs and get your potion ready, love. If they arrive, I’ll come get you.”
I hesitate, and then nod. I’m tired, and yet it doesn’t feel right to leave him here. But even if his people arrive, I can’t be seen with him. And if mine arrive first, he can do that weird shadow thing and slip to my side faster than a blink. “Promise you’ll wake me the instant they get here.”
“I promise, love.” He holds a hand out to me.
I move into his embrace and press against his chest. He wraps his wings around me, holding me close, and before I can blink, he has me upstairs and in our room, the shadows receding as I blink in surprise. Well now, that was a neat trick. “How did you do that?”
“Trust me, I’m just as surprised as you,” he says with a chuckle. Nemeth bends down and kisses my upturned face. “I’ll come wake you the moment they arrive.”
He disappears in another swirl of shadows, and I absently go and tap the light in the corner, dimming it. I’m too uneasy to sleep, but sitting by the door is just making me anxious. It must be making Nemeth anxious as well, and that’s why he’s sent me up here. I kick my shoes off and lie atop the blankets, fretting. I tell myself I’m not going to sleep. I’m just going to lie here to satisfy Nemeth if he checks on me.
It seems an eye-blink of time passes. I jerk awake, wiping the corners of my mouth in surprise. Turns out I was able to sleep after all. I scramble out of bed, excited and terrified all at once.
Nemeth didn’t come and wake me. Maybe I didn’t sleep for long? Maybe even now his people are depositing food at our doorstep and he’s been so busy he hasn’t come to alert me? I put on my shoes as I race for the stairs.