Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 99529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
I blinked. “But. . .”
Ian spoke, “At the end of the week, we did the mass funeral and then held the coronation directly after. Nai thought it was best to do it all fast. I wasn’t so sure. You see. I still didn’t know that everybody dying was Phinova’s and Nai’s intention from the very start. I thought it was a magical accident that maybe we added too many herbs or ground gems—”
“When did you find out?” With no notice, Xander pulled me to him, gently lifted me up, and set me on his lap.
I blinked.
Ian snapped his eyes open and directed his gaze to us. “I’d been crying throughout the funeral and even the coronation. There’s a famous painting called the Somber Prince.”
My heart ached. “I know that painting. I saw it at the Capitol City historical gallery.”
In the image, a prince stood on a platform wearing a long black robe that was too big for his body. Tears painted his face. He stared down at the ground while someone placed a crown on his head.
I remembered the most interesting part of the image was that the artist had done it all in black, white, and gray, except for the crown.
It was the only thing in the painting that held color.
Xander moved his view to Ian. “You were the somber prince?”
“That was of me.” Ian rose to a sitting position. “Gloom had overtaken me. The last place I desired to be was a damn coronation when I’d just lowered my parents into the ground. After the ceremony ended, I went straight to my bedroom and lay under the covers, weeping like a child. I would’ve stayed there all night if not from the laughing and celebrating coming from the top room in the castle.”
“The top room?” I tilted my head to the side. “Was it. . .the same room where Xander killed everybody nights ago?”
“Yes. That space was Nai’s favorite place to spend time in,” Ian said. “I am not surprised he made that room the place where he kept Phinova’s. . .corpse.”
“What happened in the top room?” Xander asked. “You said you heard laughing.”
“I arrived there, bumping into maids with trays of chocolates and wine. Their faces showed fear as they scurried down the hallway.” Ian brushed hair away from his eyes. “Phinova and Nai lounged in the center of the room, laughing and smoking Zumayan mushrooms. When they spotted me, they paused in shock. Phinova offered me some wine and said, ‘Did we wake you?’ They didn’t even have the courage to admit the truth.”
I leaned back on Xander. “So you don’t know for sure if they united together and killed everyone?”
“Camille, you’re so good. You hear all of this and still inside your heart you think there’s a chance they didn’t conspire to murder so many.” Ian gave me a sad smile. “But the truth is. . .they did. Nai and Phinova shed no tears for the dead. By the next dusk, all of my family’s items were burned, destroyed, or given to the poor. Our custom requires thirty days of mourning—we must wear all black, ring a bell in their memory each dawn, hold a feast for the city in their name, and give gifts to Ambi in order to gain his favor over their spirits.”
Ian switched his view to Xander’s hands as they caressed my thighs. “On the third dusk, Nai took the custom from our law books and forbid anyone in the city to do the thirty-day mourning. We fought about it all night. Our claws and horns emerged and for the first time I came close to killing him.”
I gently moved Xander’s hands away.
A low growl left Xander.
I ignored him. Ian’s story was too sad. He needed our undivided attention.
Old pain swam in Ian’s eyes and I yearned to hug him.
“That night was the first time I saw Phinova cry.” Ian lowered her voice. “She never liked our fighting.”
“But did she ever cry over her parents?” I asked.
“No. Remember, she was a blood mage.” He shook his head. “Although her tribe didn’t kill Phinova and raised her like she was a princess, she was still treated as evil even from her birth. They drained her like cattle weekly to make medicines. Her parents gave her the title of princess, but any stranger could see that her parents preferred her siblings over Phinova. Even her guards’ duties were not only to keep Phinova away from vampires, but away from her family as well. She lived a lot in seclusion.”
Poor Phinova.
At least I had experienced love from the people I thought were my parents.
My birth parents must have realized how hard my life would have been, when they realized I was a blood mage.
Then. . .they gave me away? Did they know my life would have been difficult around mages?