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)
She didn’t reply.
“Tell him how badly you want it,” I advised.
“There are reasons behind why this is not what he wants. Reasons that I cannot deny, especially for him.”
“I am certain,” I replied. “I still think, if this is something you want badly, Serena, that you should talk to him.”
“I do not want…”
She didn’t finish that.
“You do not want?” I prompted.
She still didn’t share.
“If you don’t wish to talk about it,” I murmured.
Again, she gave me her gaze. “I almost lost him once for doing something he did not like. I do not want to lose him again.”
Ah.
Understandable, but not recommendable.
“That is no union,” I told her gently.
She stared at me.
“He cannot have all he wishes just because you desire greatly not to lose him,” I told her. “You will lose too much of yourself in that and either become a shadow of what you once were, or your love for him will dim before it entirely fades away as you begin to hate him for the things you cannot have, for you have given so much to him.”
Her gaze drifted down to the mane of her mount.
“Serena,” I called, and watched as it took some effort, but she again looked to me. “I do not know Chu hardly at all,” I said. “But from what I have seen, especially when he is with you, he strikes me as a man who not only would want to know your desires, but also would be willing to discuss them with you.”
She thought on this a moment before she replied, “This likely matters not, depending on what might befall us as we fight the Beast.”
“This is true, but trust me, my friend, it is in the now that you must establish how you will communicate with the one you love. I did not do that with Aramus, and we wasted months of our marriage to anger and frustration. And now, we face…”
“Ha-Lah,” she murmured when I was unable to continue.
I lifted my chin. “I believe in my heart we will succeed. I must. There would be no point going on if I did not. But this does not mean I do not think about that not happening, and in doing so, regret the time I wasted having the man I loved and not talking to him.”
She studied me a moment with thoughtful, but warm brown eyes before she nodded decisively and declared, “I will be forthcoming with Chu about my desires.”
“Good,” I murmured.
“And now I will express my gratitude to you for your training.”
I started laughing, but through it said, “You are most welcome.”
She again faced forward, remarking, “She has given me much I do not deserve.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Elena.”
I was perplexed. “What has she given you that you don’t deserve?”
“You. Silence. Farah. Herself.”
It was this time that I stared.
“Serena, she has not given you this,” I told her.
She gave me her eyes.
“You earned it,” I said.
A becoming pink tinged her cheeks that had nothing to do with the chill air coming off the sea.
And again, I lost her gaze.
But I left it at that, wishing her to think on it, and understand it, as we came upon a part of the lane that was, on one side, nothing but craggy black rock that inclined so steeply, no houses or building could be built upon it.
It did not take much time for us to reach Lowgate, which was named thus as it was at sea level. But the gate was not low, nor was it small. As was Highgate, Lowgate was most tall and it was very wide. It was made up of thick wood painted a glistening black, and it was elaborately ornate with wrought iron in a way that was both splendid to look at and forbidding.
Last, it was opened for us before our arrival.
We rode through, our grand procession, with the guards at the gate standing at attention and saluting Cassius as we did.
I noted often, my husband, some ways in front of me, riding next to True, looked back as if I might disappear into thin air.
Each time he did, I gave him a reassuring smile.
As for me, I took heart in the sea as we traversed the track beside it, feeling, and glorying in the mist striking the skin of my face as the waves struck the rocks at our sides.
As the road curved inland, the guards at the front of the procession took a narrower path that would keep us traversing alongside the sea.
And in some time, they guided their mounts up along the cliffs. Mars and Cassius were at the lead, Jorie and Chu behind them, my husband and True behind them, then Elena and Silence, Farah and Melisse, and myself and Serena broke off from them to ride low.
I saw the small outcropping, that formed a kind of bowl, which Melisse had referred to as “The Cauldron.”