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)
Obligations kept him away from me for most of the day but, as promised, he joined me around midday, so we could share a meal. He loved the term brunch and told me it was very clever. We spoke about my world a little, and he suggested we might go visit it once in a while, but our time together was over too soon, and I was once again stuck with Reiner, who alternates between complaining about stuff and complimenting both me and Kyran on the most random things.
At some point, he told me I would make a very pretty insect, and I’m still not sure whether it was praise or a dig at me.
“So, do you not have electricity because it wasn’t invented, or because it doesn’t work here?” I ask, wondering if there is the slightest chance of setting up Wi-Fi here in the future.
Reiner blinks at me, pulled out of thoughts that made him frown. “I’m not sure I follow. I’ve never been to the human world, so I wouldn’t know.”
He’s leading me down a wide corridor and the heels of my new boots click against the marble floors with elaborate patterns of bones. Maybe it’s not marble? I’m not sure, but I’m too busy stealing another glance at myself when we pass a mirror.
“There will be time for vanity in the coming months when your portrait is painted, Master Luke,” Reiner says with the sternness of a Victorian governess, even though he’s wearing breeches meant to accentuate his ass and thighs.
I look away, but at least my flush won’t show under the pale makeup.
“What time is the wedding? Is there anything else we should do before that? And the reception? Will I be expected to dance? I can only do the tree dance, just saying,” I say and laugh awkwardly when I imagine elven royalty watching me flap my arms about as I close my eyes and let the music lead me. But what works well in a dingy, dark nightclub on goth night might prove embarrassing in the light of the bright green lanterns.
Reiner spins on his heel and raises his hands in an exasperated gesture. “I wish! It’s the custom to hold a ball before the wedding, but His Highness has rushed everything. We barely have an hour left. It’s not making him any more popular,” he says with a twist of his lips. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him. I think if the servants did their best, we could plan for the next full moon. It’s going to be a blood moon too, so it’s anyone’s guess why our prince can’t wait those few weeks.”
He then turns away and mumbles something sounding suspiciously like ‘it’s not like he waited with other things’.
“You overestimate my influence,” I say with a deep sigh as we walk into an even wider corridor.
On one side, the glow of the giant full moon floods in through floor to ceiling windows, illuminating a long wall of portraits.
Reiner smirks, gesturing at one of the paintings, which pictures a beautiful elven woman with a cascade of gray locks. Her long-clawed hands rest on the shoulders of a handsome man who’s just as human as I. “No, it is you who is underestimating the power you can have. Many years ago, His Highness's great-great-grandmother had been too lenient with the peasants, and it was creating dissent at court. It was her Dark Companion, Anton, who told her about the way such things are handled where he was from, and the peasants have been bound to the land throughout her reign. A much more convenient solution than what we’re dealing with now,” Reiner adds with a satisfied smile.
I give him a bewildered glance. I can only imagine how that looked if the human in question was born three hundred years ago, or so. I choose not to open that can of worms and point out the next portrait, since it seems we have an hour to kill. I need a distraction from the itch under my vambrace.
“Do all the pictures here depict the rulers with their Dark Companions?”
I glance in amazement at the variety of paintings and wonder if it’s possible that one day my portrait with Kyranis will be on this wall. Am I really about to leave behind all I know, vanish from my world and bind myself to a man I’ve known for a day?
I note that most of the couples are straight, but it seems that Kyran and I will be far from the first gays on the Nocturne Throne, which is rather reassuring. I can’t say my town is the worst when it comes to homophobia, but there've been many situations when I’ve felt aggressively othered, and, well, I did get beaten up twice. In any case, it’s comforting, even if surprising, to find out that this fantasy world doesn’t share mores with medieval Europe.