Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
His frown deepened, as if he were unsure what to think about my confession. But dang it, I did care. He might be slightly robotic and a beheader of innocents, but he wasn’t a bad guy. Mostly.
Jasher reclined in his chair, a picture of masculine perfection. His wet hair stuck out in spikes. The heat from the bath had given his dusky skin an almost rosy undertone. He wore a clean white tunic, with an untied V-neck that gaped, displaying the beginnings of his tattooed pecs. Black leather hugged powerful legs. No socks or shoes adorned his feet.
“I have eyes, you know,” he muttered, shifting his weight to the side. “You even bargained to peer into them.”
Oops. Mortification blistered my skin. I’d spent however long staring at his body. Leering. “Apologies. I was lost in thought.” Truth, if not the full truth.
Expression blank now, he picked up the conversation as though it had never lagged. “I, too, thought you resembled someone, but I convinced myself I couldn’t possibly be correct. Until the trapper offered confirmation.”
So the executioner had an idea of who I resembled. Good. “I’d love to hear your thoughts.” Wait. His expression might be blank, but his posture certainly wasn’t. He gripped the arms of his chair with white knuckles. Had my leering affected him perhaps? Or did his reaction stem from his suspicions, whatever they were?
I gulped as suspicions knocked on the door of my mind. What if he referenced my mother?
“Tell me about your mother,” he said.
I forgot how to breathe. “Who do you suspect she is?” I knew Mom had visited or lived in Hakeldama. What I hadn’t considered until now: She might’ve been born here.
“Tell me about her,” he insisted.
Nerves kicking up a fuss, I rubbed the shadow ring. “Her name was Sandra Shaker. Sandra Ori before she married my dad. She was an artist at heart. Loved to draw and paint, but also to write.”
Jasher did nothing but breathe for a moment. The longer he waited to respond, however, the more he pulsed with iron resolve.
“What?” I demanded, wringing my hands. “Tell me.”
“Are you sure you wish to know?”
Yes! No. “Maybe?” Oh, my goodness, oh, my goodness. “Please tell me.”
He inclined his chin. “Twenty-one years ago, a king and queen ruled the City of Lux, a kingdom where the provinces converge and the beating heart of Hakeldama.”
Okay. So far I didn’t see a reason for his demeanor. “They are the royals you mentioned before?”
“Yes. Their names were King Ahav and Queen Sandrine Ori-Emet.”
Sandrine Ori’Emet. Sandrine—Sandra—Ori. Oooh. I gulped. A queen. Who’d been married to a king, here in Hakeldama. Twenty-one years ago, right before my birth. The fact that she used to tell me stories about a fallen king…
I peered down at the band on my finger. The colors appeared more vivid, as if a different gemstone filled each setting. “I don’t know how what you’re telling me is possible, but go on. Please,” I repeated with a croak.
“From the stories I’ve heard, both the king and queen were killed by monstra. Though there were whispers the queen escaped to your world…pregnant with her first child.”
Pregnant. I pressed a palm against my mouth. “You expect me to believe my dad isn’t really my dad. No. Absolutely not.” I shook my head with force. That wasn’t possible.
“Denial isn’t proof, Moriah.” A gentle rebuke.
I shifted in my seat. All right, if his implication was possible—which it wasn’t. But if it wasn’t…biologically related to my dad? Information I wasn’t equipped to process while also processing the fact that my mother had once ruled this strange, terrible land.
I had to shove my next question through clenched teeth. “What would this connection mean for me, if it were true?”
“I’m not sure. History doesn’t paint the king and queen in a favorable light. In fact, they are considered a topic never to be mentioned. If you are indeed their child, a princess, there’s nothing but animosity for you to inherit.”
I gripped my knees. “My mother was kind and gentle with a ready smile. No one in their right mind would paint her as anything but amazing.”
“My words weren’t a smear on her character. They were merely a statement of fact.”
“I want to read these so-called history books.”
“There are none. Little trace of the royals remains. Those who remember them do not speak of them. To my knowledge, only a lone portrait survived public burnings.”
My nails dug into bone. “Who’s in power now?” Did I have family members in Hakeldama?
“All relatives were executed by citizens soon after the king’s death. As the world descended into chaos, the Guardian seized the crown, replacing the Ori-Emets to bring order to the land.”
I waved a trembling hand in a please continue gesture.
Jasher nodded. “Soon after the Guardian’s ascension, he discovered a journal written by the king. Or queen. I’m not sure which. I’ve never read it. Either way, he studies it often and keeps it contained inside a locked room only a trusted few may enter. I’ve had the privilege only twice. That’s the reason I’ve seen the portrait. It, too, remains in the locked room.”