Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74292 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
I motioned him to follow me and walked to the back of the chamber, past the big stone chair that must’ve served as the Pale Queen’s throne.
We walked through a wide doorway into a hallway, and then through another doorway. I whispered a word, and the feylantern flared to life.
A long chamber spread before us. Chunks of gold and heaps of uncut precious stones littered the floor, piled against the walls on both sides. Here and there strange crystals glowed, fluorescing gently with magic. Odd bones, skulls and femurs, lay between the gold nuggets. Some I recognized. Some were too weird to identify. Everything in the chamber was either a precious metal, gem, or magically potent item. The chamber kept going, its end lost in the darkness. I had only installed enough feylanterns to light up the first twenty-five yards.
Luther stared, stunned.
“We don’t know how long the Pale Queen was alive,” I said. “Long enough that she noticed the world was warming up. That didn’t happen overnight. It must’ve taken centuries. Some people think fae could live for several hundred years if their magic is strong enough, and she had a lot of magic at her disposal.”
Luther was still staring. I let him come to terms with it all.
“Gold?” he said finally.
“It takes enchantment well and it’s malleable with minimal tools. You don’t even have to dig for it that often. Sometimes you can find it on the ground. All those boring looking rocks lying about are uncut gems, and every gem here carries potential for off-the-charts enchantment. She wanted them because they are magically potent. Emeralds, garnets, sapphires, aquamarines… I’m guessing she went on field trips to the mountains, and she must’ve had some way to sense them because there are way too many here. We took a small one to Wilmington to be appraised. Just one of those good size ones will pay for an apartment building.”
Luther made a small, strangled noise.
“This wasn’t her treasure room,” I told him. “It was her craft closet. The source of the collars and some other things we found. We will pay for the transport of the panels. No need to worry.”
Luther closed his eyes for a second, then opened them. “You mentioned other things?”
I smiled. “So many other things. Come with me. I’ll show you.”