Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
“And out of all people, you chose me for that? You don’t even know me. What if you hate me? What if you find out I have the personality of a rotten pomegranate?”
He pulls me closer, and as we move toward an arched vestibule with columns shimmering like silver, followed by a long train of courtiers, he flicks his thumb over my ear. “You’re right. I don’t know you. But your life is mine now, so you should be on your best behavior.”
How can he flood me with so much terror while sounding so sweet? He even has a little smile on his lips as he says that. I should hate him for it, but didn’t I bargain with my shadow? Maybe he has the right to me.
Or I’m just trying to absolve myself of all personal responsibility for my predicament.
“May we eat something? It’s been a long evening.” I also need to see more of this place and understand it better before he puts me in some room with no way out.
“It’s midday. Do you not see how bright the moon is?” Kyranis stills, right in the middle of a floor covered by an elaborate mosaic pattern, and just as I’m about to apologize for my ignorance, a man as tall and slender as a reed stops next to us and bows so low his dark brown braid brushes the tiles.
“Your Highness. Welcome back. It’s such a joy to see you with your promised at last,” he says in a haughty voice before straightening his back to stare right at me. He has an angular face, big blue eyes, and lips that somehow look bold and soft at the same time.
“Thank you, Reiner,” Kyranis mutters before clearing his throat as the crowd of fancily dressed elves fills the interior behind us. The musicians must have followed us as well, because the flowing melody they produce accompanies us even now. “Could you bring some food to the breakfast room?”
Reiner places his hand on his chest as his face scrunches.
“But Your Highness, it’s no longer breakfast time,” he says, as if this disruption of the daily schedule was a personal offense.
Next to me, Kyranis fills his chest with air before speaking in a low voice that echoes under the ceiling, no doubt reaching everyone’s ears. “If I say it’s breakfast time, it is breakfast time.”
Reiner bows again, not missing a beat. “As you wish, Sire. I will get everything delivered with haste,” he says and walks off, stomping as if he was marching to war, not ordering the cook to make eggs. Or whatever it is that they eat here.
“I’m guessing there won’t be French fries?” I joke to lighten the mood. Or maybe to endear myself to my cruel captor. I don’t know. I’m in survival mode.
Kyranis sighs and takes hold of both my hands as he faces me in front of dozens of people. “That is unfortunate, but I am sure the cooks will do everything in their power to accommodate your wishes,” he says somberly, as if the absence of fries was a grave matter of the state. Before I can find my voice, he glances at the courtiers and speaks, “Dear friends, there’s entertainment prepared for you in the ballroom. We shall join you shortly.”
Several elves bow, some clap, but Kyranis wastes no more time on them and guides me farther down the corridor. Four guards in armor made of a material resembling flint create a wall between us and the others, to make sure no one follows. I kind of appreciate it, because I’m a fish out of water, and I don’t want to be gawked at as I eat.
Kyranis squeezes my hand. “Your fingers are so cold. You must get a warm drink as well.”
“I… um… thank you?” I’m stunned, because I don’t recall anyone ever coddling me so much. I did get to pick and choose from the lunch buffet at boarding school, but once I left its walls I had to pay extra if I wanted food made for me.
No longer, it seems. Though I wish I already knew what price I’ll be paying for such comforts.
Kyranis smiles and then pulls my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to my tender skin. “Like ice. I’ll have gloves made for you of the finest leather,” he tells me before tugging me along the corridor, through a door so well-obscured by a massive tapestry featuring a sea monster that I would have missed it.
Behind it is a spiral staircase, and after climbing two stories, we’re in a hallway with ceilings vastly lower than on the ground floor of the castle. The colors here are muted, the draperies hung on walls—heavier, but when Kyranis passes through one of the doors, we step into a bright space, with massive arched windows opening the small circular interior to the vast sea.