Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Her arms tightened over her chest, and her eyes watered slightly. “I think so.”
Now I was in disbelief because I’d manifested my own future. I’d lied about our marriage, but now I would make it real.
“I want to be by your side as we fix this world. As we make it whole again.”
I loved it when she looked at me like that. With pride, not despair. “There’s no one else I’d rather have at my side as we do this. And I promise, we’ll still find your family. When this is all over.”
Her eyes watered a little more, but she blinked it back. “I know we will.”
We weren’t married, but it felt like we consummated our marriage that night. We were in a new place, in a room we’d never been in before, but we made it ours, made it home. We stopped sometime late into the night, and when the sun woke me up just hours later, I knew that our rendezvous had taken far longer than I realized.
I had to start my day, falsely serve King Rutherford in whatever way I could, and wait for Huntley to take the Capital. I could sabotage the city from the inside out. I just wasn’t sure how to do that yet. I wanted to send a missive, but I didn’t have any information worth relaying.
I got dressed and prepared to depart.
Effie did the same, putting on one of the dresses that were supplied in her closet. With her hair clean and dry and her skin free of the grime from our travels, she looked brand-new. She wore a blue dress with thin straps over her shoulders. It showed her legs from the knees down. She looked like a princess without a crown.
Now I didn’t want to leave. “You look nice.”
“Thanks.” She looked down at herself. “Never worn a dress before…”
“It suits you.”
A knock sounded on the door.
Effie stepped out of sight before I opened it.
It was one of Rutherford’s advisers. “His Highness has assembled his commanders. He requests your presence in the grand hall.”
“I’ll be right there.” I shut the door and turned back to Effie. “Wait here until I return.”
“Wait?” she asked. “I want to see the city.”
“I’ll take you tomorrow.”
“What if you’re busy with Rutherford?”
“I promise I’ll take you. I don’t want something to happen to you in my absence. Royal ladies don’t go places unaccompanied, so you’ll stick out like a sore thumb. Wait, alright?”
She finally caved and gave a nod.
I departed the bedchamber and headed to the grand hall. When I walked in, I saw Rutherford at the head of the table, his eldest son Maddox to his right. His commanders and generals were there as well.
Maddox and I made eye contact then we exchanged a subtle nod before I took a seat. Half of the table was empty because it could easily accommodate twenty for a grand feast. The room was silent, and there were no drinks on the table.
Since no one spoke, I didn’t either.
I waited and waited, but nothing seemed to happen.
We must be waiting for someone. Or several someones.
Thirty minutes came and went, and I glanced at every person at the table, wondering if they were as impatient as I was. Rutherford didn’t speak to his son Maddox. He didn’t speak to anyone. I wouldn’t have rushed here so quickly if I’d known other guests were en route.
Who was so important that Rutherford would continue to wait? There were enough people here to start the meeting. He had his commanders and the person who had fled Delacroix. So, who was he waiting for?
A few minutes after that, the double doors opened as the servants allowed someone inside.
The man who entered was tall, taller than me, and that was saying something since I was already six-foot-three. He wore a dark blue jacket with a black undershirt and black pants. With lifeless eyes, he walked toward us, as if he was bored the second he stepped into the room. His skin was close to being fair, but it was a slightly deeper color…almost gray. With pronounced cheekbones and a heavy jaw, he looked almost inhuman. The skin around his left eye was slightly discolored—as if he’d been punched recently.
He was accompanied by a woman. With dark hair, fair skin, and bright-blue eyes, she looked distinctly different from him because of her beauty. She looked like a rose garden, and he looked like a swamp.
He took the seat at the opposite end of Rutherford. The woman took the seat beside him and stared straight ahead at the empty chair opposite her. Her clothing was dark blue as well, almost midnight black. Her dark hair was tucked behind her ear, revealing her slender neck and delicate skin.
Two more men filed into the room and took their seats at the opposite end of the table, leaving all the chairs between us empty. There was a distinct line in the center, a divide between them and us.