Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 156907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
Cassius held a moment in case there was more to report.
When no one spoke, he commanded, “Those of you going, get ready to ride. Ian, Rus, stay strong.”
He then turned and moved swiftly to the stairs, and once on them, took them two at a time.
In the upper hall, he made haste to his and Elena’s bedchamber, and upon entering it, saw her weapons littered the coverlet of their bed with her at the sofa, shoving things in her saddle bags.
Her gown was a pool of tulle on the floor.
Her body was now covered in her Nadirii gear.
Her face was harsh.
“All is ready, we ride out in half an hour,” he shared.
She did naught but grunt, flipping over the flap on her bag and tying the fastenings tighter than necessary.
He got close and called softly, “My lamb.”
“I suppose, soon, I will be joining you and Dora and Aelia and True and Farah’s family,” she stated.
He was surprised she said these words, for he did not know she knew of his conversation with Theodora.
Perhaps Dora told her.
“Ellie, cease a moment and come let me hold you,” he urged.
She ceased, only to turn woodenly him and look up in his eyes.
And then, even in her dread, preparing for the onslaught of grief, she spoke words that completed her self-appointed task of coloring his world.
“I was certain my love for True was genuine. I longed for nothing but a life with him. But at one look at you, I did not think of it again. But now, Cass, in this time since that message was received, it is all I can think about.”
His words sounded choked when he asked, “The life you would have had with True?”
“No. The life I could have with you if we had been naught but us. Not prince. Or princess. A Dellish maiden and shepherd. A Firenz nomad and the girl who caught his eye. A Mar-el pirate and a bar wench. I do not care what we were, except, no offense, but I have not considered a life in Airen.”
“No offense taken,” he murmured.
“What would it be if that was us?” she asked. “What would be our lives if we were just man and woman who could meet and marry and make children? We could grumble about the decisions of kings and queens at night in our bed by a fire under a thatched roof, but their machinations had very little to do with the next day’s toil or the love shared when it was done.”
“Ellie,” he whispered.
“If we were that, when my mother got sick, she would be down the lane, resting in bed, cared for by her daughters, with those who loved her close at hand when—”
Her voice cracked, the harshness dissolved from her face, and it was then Cass took the step separating them and drew her tight in his arms.
Her body bucked once with a muted sob.
After that, she settled into heartbreaking shakes.
He put his lips to the top of her hair.
“We will get to her.”
“Serena—”
“A raven and rider have been sent.”
She held onto him, and his clever future wife, she allowed herself the time to feel what she was feeling and express it, before he heard her sniff and give his waist a squeeze.
He took his cue, let her go but lifted both hands to her jaws and swept his thumbs over her wet cheeks, dipping his face so it was in hers.
Her violet eyes shone with love and anguish.
I love you, he thought.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
She nodded.
Cass kissed her forehead.
Then he looked again in her eyes and said, “Let us go.”
110
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The Distraction
Princess Serena
The Shanty, Notting Thicket
WODELL
Serena careened down the alley unsteadily, the only sure thing about her was her hold on the jug of grog.
She approached the spent bottles of whiskey farthest from the troll and did not waste much time assessing if they had a taste left (none) or if they were entirely empty (all).
Things had, of late, hit a critical stage.
The cases of liquor stacked in the doorframe of the building the troll guarded had run low.
And she had noted the troll not once, but several times, eyeing and even sometimes moving to the lock on the door and tugging on it or flicking it in frustration.
She also had noted that he seemed to be on the lookout for something.
This, she suspected, being his benefactor, who he did not know would never be returning.
The troll was growing restless.
Fortunately, True had sent word that it was time for her crew to move.
She could only assume the arrests had been made, that blow delivered to The Goddess-Damned Bloody Rising.
Now, she hoped she and Gal and Brix would deliver another.
There were ten of True’s men as well as Tor in their little room through the maze of alleyways, waiting for Serena, Gal and Brix to get into the building. They could have overcome the troll, but if the coin wasn’t behind that locked door, they didn’t want a big hullabaloo to indicate they were in search of it and had homed in on the Shanty.