Total pages in book: 200
Estimated words: 189930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 950(@200wpm)___ 760(@250wpm)___ 633(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 189930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 950(@200wpm)___ 760(@250wpm)___ 633(@300wpm)
“You know that it has to mean that he’s near,” Loren was saying. “Prince Casteel.”
My head snapped in her direction in shock. I had no idea what she was talking about or how the subject had come up, but I couldn’t believe she had actually spoken his name aloud. My lips parted. No one other than the Descenters would dare utter his actual name, and I doubted that any of them would even speak it in the castle. It was treasonous to call him a prince. He was the Dark One.
Dafina was frowning. “Because of the…” She glanced at me, her brows knitted. “Because of the attack?”
It was only then that I realized they must’ve been talking about the attempted kidnapping while I’d been…
Well, while I’d been doing exactly what they had been doing earlier—staring and thinking about Hawke.
“Besides that.” Loren returned to threading a blood-red crystal to her mask. “I overheard Britta saying so this morning.”
“The maid?” Dafina huffed.
“Yes, the maid.” The dark-haired Lady in Wait lifted her chin. “They know everything.”
Dafina laughed. “Everything?”
She nodded as she lowered her voice. “People speak about anything in front of them. No matter how intimate or private. It’s almost like they are ghosts in a room. There is nothing they don’t overhear.”
Loren had a point. I’d seen it myself with the Duchess and the Duke.
“What did Britta say?” Tawny placed her cup on the table.
Loren’s dark eyes flicked to me and then moved back to Tawny. “She said that Prince Casteel had been spotted in Three Rivers. That it was he who started the fire that took Duke Everton’s life.”
“How could anyone claim that?” Tawny demanded. “No one who has ever seen the Dark One will speak of what he looks like or has lived long enough to give any description of him.”
“I don’t know about that,” argued Dafina. “I heard from Ramsey that he is bald and has pointy ears, and is pale, just like…you know what.”
I resisted the urge to snort. Atlantians looked just like us.
“Ramsey? One of His Grace’s stewards?” Tawny arched a brow. “I should’ve stated, how could anyone credible claim that?”
“Britta claims that the few who’ve seen Prince Casteel say he’s actually quite handsome,” Loren added.
“Oh, really?” mused Dafina.
Loren nodded as she knotted the crystal to her mask. “She said that was how he gained access to Goldcrest Manor.” Her voice dropped. “That Duchess Everton developed a relationship of a physical nature with him without realizing who he was, and that was how he was able to move freely through the manor.”
Britta sure talked a lot, didn’t she?
“Nearly all of what she says turns out to be true.” Loren shrugged as she worked an emerald-green crystal beside the red. “So, she could be right about Prince Casteel.”
“You should really stop saying that name,” Tawny advised. “If someone overhears you, you’ll be sent to the Temples faster than you can say ‘I knew better.’”
Loren’s laugh was light. “I’m not worried. I’m not foolish enough to say such things where I can be overheard, and I doubt anyone present will say anything.” Her gaze flicked to me, brief but knowing. She knew I couldn’t say a word because I’d have to explain how I was even a part of the conversation.
Which, for the record, I wasn’t.
I was just sitting here.
“What…what if he was actually here?” Loren gave a delicate shudder. “In the city now? What if that was how he gained access to Castle Teerman?” Her eyes lit up. “Befriended someone here or perhaps even poor Malessa.”
“You don’t sound all that concerned by the prospect.” Tawny picked up her cup. “To be blunt, you sound excited.”
“Excited? No. Intrigued? Possibly.” She lowered the mask to her lap, sighing. “Some days are just so dreadfully dull.”
The shock of her statement caused me to forget who I was and where I was. All that I managed to do was keep my voice low when I spoke. “So, a good old rebellion may liven things up for you? Dead men and women and children are a source of entertainment?”
Surprise flickered across both her and Dafina’s faces. It was probably the first time either had ever heard me speak.
Loren swallowed. “I suppose I…I might’ve misspoken, Maiden. I apologize.”
I said nothing.
“Please ignore Loren,” pleaded Dafina. “Sometimes, she speaks without any thought and means nothing by it.”
Loren nodded emphatically, but I didn’t doubt that she’d meant exactly what she said. A rebellion would break up the monotony of her day, and she hadn’t thought of the lives affected or lost because she simply hadn’t cared to.
It happened then, once more without any warning, causing my body to jerk forward and my spine to stiffen. My gift reached out on its own, and before I even realized it was happening, that invisible link formed between Loren and me. A sensation came through the connection, a mixture that reminded me of fresh air on a warm day and then something acrid like bitter melon. I focused on the sensations as my heart thumped against my ribs. They felt like…excitement and fear as Loren stared at me as if she wished to say something additional.