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)
Once more, seconds passed with no change. I gathered his limp hand in mine, drew it to my face, and kissed his battle-roughened knuckles. “I will never forget you. Will always…” My throat tightened on the words. “Get better. Your princess demands it.”
He dragged in a sharp, ragged breath. Then he roared. But color spread over him, health and vitality chasing away infirmity. The split bone drew together and knitted, along with muscle and flesh.
Relief obliterated my worry. The liquid armor reappeared. My weapons, too. Fear kept them at bay? “Where’s your brother?”
“With Ian. Reese pretended to deliver the final blow.” As Jasher sat up without problem, I sheathed the swords and threw my arms around him. He hugged me back but said, “You should have let me die, princess.”
“Never. Now where’s the Guardian?” Perhaps I should end Ian and his chosen protégé before returning home. A princess protecting the people her queen mother had so adored.
“I don’t know.” Determination hardened Jasher’s voice. “But I do know where the portal is, and how to activate it. I’m forbidden from using it, but that hardly matters anymore. You can go home today.”
Jasher stood in all his naked glory and helped me to my feet. Twining his hand with mine, he led me out of the dungeon, up flights of stairs, through hallways. Along the way, we discovered multiple royal soldiers lying on the floor, either dead or dying. The stench of death stung my nostrils.
I pressed my free hand over my mouth. “What happened?”
“The Guardian is worked into a rage.” Jasher stopped to confiscate clothing from one of the fallen. Anguish etched every part of him. “This is what happened to the soldiers who came before us. He claimed the corruption of one proved corruption in all, and they needed to be extinguished.”
A form of manipulation to keep them in line. Evil on every level. Were the replacements being trained even now?
The entire palace rocked suddenly, nearly sending me to my knees. An alarm screeched to life. “What’s happening?”
“The rebels must have breached the dome.” He swiped up a discarded sword. “Let’s go.”
He took the lead, and together we sprinted up other flights of stairs.
With every floor we cleared, I was able to glimpse out of a window. War had indeed erupted outside the palace. Royal soldiers against rebels, and the death count was rising. The soldiers must not know what the Guardian had done to their brethren.
Soon, we ascended so high I spied only clouds. Despite my father’s aid via the ring, my limbs began to shake and burn, and I lagged. Didn’t help that the castle shook again and again, coinciding with the explosions occurring outside. “How much further?” I asked between sawing breaths.
“Almost there,” he promised, taking my hand and tugging me along behind him. At the door, a set of closed double doors loomed.
He released me and pushed through. We entered a capacious space, and the air instantly electrified, raising the fine hairs on my body. Like the throne room, there were no furnishings, but a surprising centerpiece could not be missed. A clear glass tube large enough for three people to stand shoulder to shoulder while inside it. The base anchored to the floor and the top cut through the ceiling. Great whirling sounds emanated from it. Perhaps because a tornado spun without cease, banging against the glass. Off to the side was a small pedestal with buttons. The control panel?
Must be. Jasher raced to it. With the press of a few buttons, the glass parted, creating an opening. Wind kicked up, whipping through the room. Locks of my hair flapped about, and I stumbled back.
Jasher battled the gusts to return to my side. “All you must do is enter.” He had to shout to be heard over the roar. “If I retraced the former path correctly, you should land where you were taken.”
My stomach knotted as he twined our fingers and steered me to the tube. At the entrance, we paused and peered into the wild whirlwind. He released me, and a cry lodged in my throat. Here it was, the moment of truth. All I’d fought for. All I’d wanted. But I continued to hesitate.
Jasher set his knuckles under my chin and urged my attention to him. We locked eyes and spoke without speaking, both of us seeming to say the same thing. It’s okay. Thank you for everything. I’ll miss you. I must do this. I understand.
He pressed a soft kiss into my lips. “Don’t come back. Not for me. Promise.”
“I’m coming back.” My mind mimicked the fervency as the wind. “If I go home, will I cause someone from home to be brought here in a tornado?” Wait. If?
“No.”
“But something will happen? To cause balance?”
His nostrils flared. He closed his eyes. “The portal doesn’t demand balance but blood. The Guardian uses the deaths of sacrifices to operate the device. And since they are dead before they are killed, we don’t consider it an actual death.”