Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
"Her blinking. It's a pattern that humans use." Maeve blinks the pattern for me and repeats herself. "Three short, three long, then three short again. It's SOS. She's asking for help. She doesn't want to marry him."
CHAPTER
ONE HUNDRED SEVEN
MAEVE
I feel sick to my stomach as we watch the vids again, paying attention to the woman's body language. The clip of her is brief (and seems to be focused on Zhur's brother Rem rather than the bride), but she's good at pretending. Her smile is wide and bright and she looks genuinely happy to be standing at Rem's side in a pretty dress and announcing their wedding.
But every time I watch, I can't help but see the blinking. It's deliberate and obvious. Whoever this Leah woman is, she needs help.
"We have to do something," I tell Zhur, fretting. Already my brain is trying to come up with a plan, no matter how outlandish. How do we steal a woman away from an evil king and not get caught? Do we enlist Lord va'Rin and his wife? Pirates? Maybe that Zebah chick? Everyone says she's crazy. Maybe she's crazy enough to help us steal a bride from a space warlord.
Zhur shakes his head. "Nothing about this makes sense. If she did not wish to marry him, why would he risk his reputation and insist upon marrying her? Perhaps you are mistaken."
"I'm not. I know I'm not. None of that looked affectionate." I wave a hand at the vid display. "It looked staged. They're puff pieces. Didn't you notice how they cut her off when she was speaking? They don't want her to talk. She's a hostage."
"If this is so," Zhur continues, "Why would my brother risk his throne to wed a hostage? No one would blink at him keeping a human on the side for his personal use and he could marry a praxiian noblewoman."
I stare at Zhur, appalled. "First of all, ew for the whole 'keeping her for his personal use' comment. Second of all, I don't know what your brother is thinking, but I know what I saw. Do you want to get a second opinion? Because I bet we can show that to another human and they will come to the same conclusion—"
He shakes his head. "I trust you, Maeve. I do. If this is what you say you saw, then I believe you."
I relax a bit. "Then what are we going to do? Someone has to help her."
A hint of a smile curves his mouth. "And you think it should be us? That this falls upon our shoulders?"
"Why not us?"
His smile grows broader, affectionate. "You have the best heart of anyone I know, my sweet Maeve, and perhaps the least amount of self-preservation."
I mean, he's not wrong. But when his fingers twine with mine and he keeps smiling at me like that, I don't feel like it's a bad thing. "I just...want to help. I know what it's like to be trapped."
Zhur nods. "This would all make more sense to me if I could understand what my brother is thinking. But kef me, there is no logic to it at all." He grips my hand tighter. "And it makes my decision easier. I know what I must do."
The sudden change in his tone surprises me. "What do you mean?"
"Remember when I told you that I had something we must talk about?" His expression is sober. "I wanted to find out the truth of my brother's wedding first. Now that we know he is truly marrying a human, it gives me another reason to move forward. I'm going to meet with him."
"Here?" I sputter.
He shakes his head somberly. "Not here. I need to hire a crew to take me off planet. I'll get away from Risda and send a message to him to meet him in person somewhere public so we can talk."
This...this sounds like a terrible idea. "I don't think you should do it." I clutch his hand. "It's dangerous. He'll kill you—"
But Zhur shakes his head again. "He will want to meet with me. He needs me now. He's marrying a human and risking his hold on the throne. He needs a way to anchor himself to it or he will lose control of the situation. Once he hears that I want to meet with him to discuss the details of my abdication, he will be interested."
I sputter again. "Abdication?"
I'm shocked. Zhur hasn't mentioned abdication to me. If he abdicates, he's letting his brother win. He's just...giving up. That doesn't make sense. I want to press my hand to his forehead to see if he's fevered, but I don't even know if that works on praxiians.
I reach up and touch the inside of one triangular ear, instead. Feels...normal?
"What are you doing?" he asks.
"Checking to see if you're fevered and delirious."