Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Nylian grunted. “The elf wizards in Ulmenor are renowned throughout the world. Just five minutes with one of them would advance the boy’s skills by leaps and bounds.”
I punched Nylian on the shoulder and laughed. “See. There you go. The little wizard will keep Adeline distracted, and we’ll worry about the money nonsense later. I’ve got some on me now, and I’m sure we’ll have something between the two of us to sell when we reach Riverhold.”
“I’m very tempted to sell you,” Nylian muttered. He didn’t give me a chance to respond. The elf sighed. “We still have to figure out how we’re getting into Ulmenor. Everyone entering the royal capital needs an invitation or some kind of specific pass to complete business.” He pointed up at his face as he leaned in close to me. “Do you really think they’re going to let me in?”
That was an excellent point. The elves of Galinaes and Wolfrest had an even longer history of hating each other than the animosity that existed between Wolfrest and Edros. They wouldn’t welcome one of their enemies and allow him to stroll through the streets. This had been one of the many sticking points in my plot outline that had driven me crazy ahead of my bridge incident.
So, I took a page out of Georgie’s book.
I wrapped my arm around Nylian’s stiff shoulders and shook him. “One problem at a time. We’ll worry about getting into Ulmenor later. Right now, we have to reach Riverhold alive. Jasper and Adeline are the key to that.”
“You’re not inviting Adeline because you’re attracted to her, are you?”
I jumped away from Nylian and nearly stumbled over a rock in my haste. “No! Absolutely not!” That was not the impression I wanted him to get. Getting in between the hero and one of his true loves was a fucking death wish I did not have. I crossed over to Nylian and lowered my voice. “She’s not my type, I swear. Besides, I’m pretty sure she’d rather kill me and search my clothes for valuables. If she’s interested in anyone, I’m sure it’s you.”
The elf stared at me until I could feel heat creeping up to the tips of my ears. I couldn’t even guess what he was thinking, but I suspected it wasn’t anything good. He was going to ditch both me and the Engleford siblings the first chance he got, but we all needed to stick together. Adeline was going to be his first—well, first now instead of like the eighth—consort. They were going to fall in love. Plus, he needed me to help him uncover the truth about his brother’s killer. I had to see this through, since I’d created this mess.
“Fine,” Nylian ground out between clenched teeth. He turned on the balls of his feet and returned to the campfire. I barely held in a celebratory dance and made do with punching the sky in my mind as I hurried after him.
“So, will you come with us?” I asked Adeline the moment I sat on the fallen log.
“How much are you paying us to protect Your Highnesses?” she inquired with an added sneer at the end.
“Five hundred for the rescue and the escort to Riverhold,” Nylian answered before I could.
A sharp bark of laughter broke from Adeline’s throat, and she shook her head at him. “Low balling, asshole. Not a fucking chance we’re doing it for less than eight.”
“Six.”
I rolled my eyes and jumped to my feet, leaving Nylian and Adeline to argue over money. What did I care? She was going to fall in love with him, and the money was going to be moot in the end. I sat next to Jasper with a grin. “Last night, what was that giant flash of white light? How did you take out those ogres?”
The young man flushed and dropped his eyes to the grimoire in his lap. “Oh. That. The spell I’d been trying to cast didn’t work at all. I thought I could turn them to stone for a few hours. That would give us plenty of time to escape, and it was likely they’d give up on us all together out of fear.”
“Makes sense. What actually happened?”
Jasper’s shoulders rose and his head lowered so that he became even smaller. “I shrank them.”
“Really? By how much?”
“A lot. They were about the size of large squirrels when the light faded.”
I fell off the log laughing, my brain filled with the image of those snarly, angry ogres running about the forest with their cudgels in the air as they chased after rabbits and battled groundhogs. Served them right after they’d considered eating us.
“Lockhart!”
I choked on the last of my chuckles and stared up at the elf, who was glaring at me. Why the hell was he so grumpy? Was he not a morning person, too?