Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
I frown. “You want me to guide Rami’s son?”
“We want you to train him, look after him, show him the ropes of being a monarch. Someone will have to be in charge there. He’ll need to plant his roots, get things in order. Consider this an opportunity for you to create a treaty with them.”
Killian shifts in his chair, grunting. I know what he’s thinking. A treaty with the Rippies is impossible. It’s never been done.
“And as we all know,” Arie chips in, “Rippies love rubies. They’ll do anything for them. To ease their concerns and kill those metaphorical fires my sister speaks of, you will give reparations to their guards. We’re thinking about five million rubies. That should be enough to pay them all off and shut them up. And if it isn’t, we will see to it ourselves that they have more reason to hate Rami than to grieve for him.”
“Five million rubies?” Killian blurts. “Are you out of your fucking minds? Our men will have to mine for those rubies day and night. Some of them may even die in the ruby caves.”
Calista shrugs as her wine magically refills. “A small price to pay for the murder of a king.”
“Rami was far from a king,” I grumble.
“You’re right. He was a piece of shit, scum on our shoe. Listen, this will be done. There is no negotiating it. You’ll look after the boy, take him under your broken wings, and you’ll pay the Rippies, so everyone forgets Rami and all of the mess it’s created.”
“Fine,” I mutter, but it doesn’t sit well with me. I care for my people, unlike Rami, and having them dig in the caves for rubies, it’ll be endless. They’ll grow to hate me, and the men’s families will wish me dead. It’s no better than sending them off to war. I’ll have to come up with a solution that doesn’t put my people in danger but still gets those bloody Rippies paid.
“Very good,” says Calista, and Vassilis puts on a shit-eating grin. My fingers ache for my gun.
“Anything else?” I ask.
“Yes, actually, there is one more thing.” Calista plucks an iceberry from the tray, a gray fruit I’m not fond of. “We know you’ve been trying to shield your thoughts about your Tether. You want to keep that part of your life sacred, but you forget we know everything that goes on in Vakeeli, whether we interfere or not.”
“What does my Tether have to do with this?”
“Your Tether, believe it or not, is our link to setting Selah free.”
“Elaborate.”
“Your kind–the ones who carry the Cold Tether–are constantly recreated. Every couple of years, there is a new version of you that is born, most times through different parents, and there has not been a version quite like you. You have the combination of a Monarch, a hybrid Mythic, and the Cold Tether from the Regals, and what a rare mixture that is.”
I sit back in my seat, waiting for her to elaborate further.
“With your gifts–your blood–it can help us find Selah. However, there’s something out there trying to stop that from happening.”
A chill runs down my spine. “You’re talking about Mournwrath.”
“Decius, yes.”
“Why can’t you defeat him yourselves?”
“Unfortunately, we were created only to defend the commoners and the gilded. Decius is a being created before our time. He can’t harm us, and we can’t harm him. In fact, it’s impossible for us to even be in the same room as him.”
“Why?”
“It weakens our energy,” Vassilis states. “And his, so he purposely avoids us. We can thank Selah for that.”
“Some Council you are,” Killian huffs.
“Anyway, we’ve had the location of Selah for a very long time, and she can only be awakened with your blood. You, I’m afraid, are the cure to her awakening. Right now, she rests in the tombs of an island, far off the Vanorian coast, Inferno Isle. We believe Decius has put a spell on her that weakened her, caused her to fall into a sleep that lasts forever, and took her there to hide the body. We’ve tried everything in our power to wake her from where we are, nothing has worked, and after doing our studies, we realized it was never us who could do it. She can only be awakened with the blood of the three most powerful individuals of Vakeeli. And that’s where you come in.”
“Every man knows if you even make it through the treacherous waters, it’s impossible to survive Inferno Isle. You can forget it,” I tell her. “It’ll kill me.”
“Death is a possibility.” Calista examines her silver nails. “But we are willing to do everything we can to protect you. We’ll give you fireproof armor and other things to withstand the heat and flames. And to get there, we’ll have a boat built, made with the finest Vakeeli iron and Vanorian gold.”