Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
I could not argue that either.
Thus, instead, I noted, “True, you are king.”
His brows inched together. “Pardon?”
“Take Silence out of this equation. If another member of your gentry spied on a visiting monarch without your knowledge or approval, what would you do?”
His lips thinned.
“Do that,” I said.
“What I would do is relieve him of his landed title, Farah. Which means relieving him of his land.”
“Do that,” I repeated.
“It is only just recently we’ve come to know he is not Silence’s father. She has grown up thinking he is. And he is my uncle.”
“He spied on a visiting sovereign, True. It doesn’t matter the reason. It cannot be abided. And, yes,” I conceded, “this is precisely what Mars has maneuvered for you to do. But Mars didn’t spy on himself and his wife. Johan did it. And you, as a monarch, who I have personally seen work very hard, very long, and with not a small amount of frustration to establish healthy alliances with the other nations of Triton, cannot have a member of your gentry for any reason imperiling that.”
I took a breath while I watched True reflect on this.
Then I went on.
“Actually, it’s worse. For it’s so bloody foolish as to be obnoxious. It was not for crown and country. It was simply to be horrid. As you say, if Mars was not Mars and he did not feel as he does about Silence, you know how he’d react to being spied upon. His warriors would ride. It could have had very dire consequences, including the loss of life, just because Johan is an arrogant bastard.”
He seemed to be studying my ear.
“Silence will understand,” I whispered.
His gaze came to mine.
“You are certain?” he asked quietly.
This was his issue.
He did not wish to cause harm to his cousin.
I laid a hand on his cheek. “I am certain.”
His body moved with the deep breath he drew in and it moved again when he released it.
“I hate this time,” he said.
I was confused. “Sorry? What time?”
“This time, of a morning, when we have to leave our bed and let the world into our lives.”
“Oh, mia vita,” I murmured, lifting up to press my lips to his. I dropped my head back to the pillows and told him, “Me too.”
“But I suppose we must do it.”
“Yes, and in just hours, we will retire back to this bed and it shall be you and me.”
He touched his lips to first one eyebrow, then the other, my nose, and then he said, “Until then, my beloved.”
And alas, he pulled us from our bed.
“Bravo!” I cried, clapping my hands.
“My little sister is a markswoman!” Jorie boomed, moving with his big man grace to his sister to engulf her in a massive hug.
I glanced at Ha-Lah beside me, who was looking at the brother and sister dotingly, before I turned my attention back to Silence, who had her head well back to beam up at her big brother as he squeezed her in his bulky arms.
“It is funny, do you not think,” Ha-Lah began, and I looked again to her. “How, when this journey began for all of us, we had so very little, and even if we have lost so very much along the way, what we have gained is beyond measure?”
How right she was.
“Yes, funny,” I murmured. “In a very lovely way.”
She cast a smile to me.
I returned it.
“Can I learn to throw daggers now, Ellie?” Dora asked.
She, along with Aelia, had returned to Airen with Ha-Lah and Aramus.
And she was now sitting on a low, stone fence at the side where we were in a courtyard amongst the expansive citadel grounds.
In my short time there, I had noted someone along the line in the history of Airenzian kings wished for beauty in this dark place.
Thus, amongst the twists and turns of the sprawling edifice that was designed to daunt, there were surprises. These included small, secluded gardens, courtyards and large balconies, as well as ornate fountains tucked in hidden corners or thin beds of tidy shrubs along walls.
Though, the most recent king clearly wished order. All outside space was formal to the point it was regimented. Shrubs, trees and potted plants were clipped precisely, with only pyramids, spikes and spirals as choice. There were no flowers, and this was not only because it was winter.
Although spartan, there was still beauty.
It could, as True told me Elena had accomplished inside the citadel, sharing she’d made great change in a short time, use a woman’s touch.
I had no doubt, come spring, Ellie would see to that as well.
“And me!” Aelia cried. “Can I learn now too?”
“You will begin to learn daggers when you’re twelve, like all Nadirii,” Elena said to Dora and then turned her eyes to Aelia, and I saw her face was soft with having to deliver bad news to the girls. “Which means a long time to wait for you, sweets.”