Total pages in book: 208
Estimated words: 209645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1048(@200wpm)___ 839(@250wpm)___ 699(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 209645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1048(@200wpm)___ 839(@250wpm)___ 699(@300wpm)
“Are you mad?” he asked.
“No,” I spoke truth.
“They would not hesitate to harm us,” Cassius replied.
“This isn’t harm. It’s just a little humiliation,” I noted.
“Let us loose, my warrior,” Cassius growled.
“I will if you promise not to hurt them,” I returned.
The Zee was again grinning.
“One Nadirii alone? You cannot break this cage,” he shared, then jerked up his chin.
The cage started to grow smaller.
And glow brighter.
Bloody hell.
“Now give us your purse and your weapons,” the man ordered.
“Ellie,” Cassius gritted.
Ellie.
And I liked that from Cassius far more than “lamb.”
I could not dwell on that.
“Cass.”
“Ellie.”
“Cass!”
“Gods damn it, Elena!” Cass shouted.
I sighed.
Then I closed my eyes.
The thrill scored up my spine and then there were shouts of surprise mingled with short screams of fear right before I heard bodies thumping to the ground.
Though, those bodies did that much farther away from us.
Right after that, I heard steel meeting steel.
I opened my eyes and shot to my feet.
“Cassius!” I screeched.
The cage was gone.
And worryingly, the moonlight was too.
We were surrounded in naught but night and stars.
Feet upon earth, we were in the heavens.
I’d learned what this meant.
This meant Cassius was very, very angry.
Proof: Cassius had beat the leader down to a knee and back on a hand. Fear was on the man’s face, his sword raised in defense across his body, Cassius’s braced against it. The Zee was struggling to keep Cass’s weapon at bay as Cass loomed over him, a dark specter in a starry sky on earth.
I moved swiftly to him, put my hand light on his back and whispered, “Cassius.”
In an instant, he stood down, taking a half step back, doing this moving into me in that protective way of his, his sword still held at the ready.
The others who had been propelled back by my bursting of the cage recovered, taking their feet, moving cautiously, and I felt every eye on us.
It took some time, but slowly, the stars drifting about us flickered out.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” Cassius purred. “I am Prince Cassius of Airen, and this is my bride, Princess Elena of the Nadirii.”
And on that, he swept low in a deep bow, sword arm still raised, other hand to his chest, his head tipped back, his eyes never leaving the leader, a taunting salute.
“Well,” the man replied, pushing up to his feet and sheathing his sword at his back, “why didn’t you just say?”
Cassius rose while growling.
I pressed my front into his side, reaching out a hand to his sword arm, wrapping my fingers around and pushing down.
It took a moment, but he finally lowered it.
I let out a breath.
However, he still did not take his eyes from the leader.
“Now, if you’re assuming I’m not in the mood to be further trifled with, you would be correct,” Cass informed him.
“So rumor is true. The Firenz takes a Dellish. The Dellish will take a Firenz. And day and night join in a marriage of impossibility,” the man declared, sweeping a hand to Cassius and me.
“And now I can see you don’t understand that by ‘further trifled with,’ this includes not wishing to engage in unnecessary discourse,” Cassius explained.
The man ignored this, put his hand to his chest just under his throat and stated, “It is my deepest honor to meet you both. I am Silvanus. I am head of the Patra.”
Cassius said nothing.
I was not surprised. It was obvious he had little to naught experience with the Zees.
I, on the other hand…
“It is our honor to meet you as well, Silvanus of the Patra,” I replied.
In a bow of pure gallantry, he bent double at the waist, one foot forward, back leg cocked, and even went so far as to doff his hat and drop his head.
He came up, returned his hat and planted both hands on his hips.
He then shouted, “This demands wine!”
“Fucking hell,” Cassius muttered.
I almost smiled.
Silvanus’s people trilled audibly and milled about, and in no time, we could see lanterns bobbing in the wood all around and a black-haired woman rushed up to Silvanus.
She had a scarf wrapped around her forehead, it disappeared under her hair, and she was wearing a white blouse that ended under her breasts, a full red skirt with big pockets at the front and gold embroidery at the hem. Also, a thick leather belt on which hung a dagger, several pouches and a small purse. She had wide hoops in her ears, innumerable bracelets on her wrists and necklaces at her neck.
All, save probably the hoops which were not Dellish fashion, were likely stolen from unsuspecting travelers.
As the small glade lit with lanterns, she handed Silvanus a bottle with a bulbous base that was sealed at the top of the neck with red wax.
He did not peel the wax to get to the cork.
Cassius went solid at my side as he withdrew his weapon from its scabbard, and with a dramatic flourish, cut the top of the bottle off with his sword.