Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
She crosses her arms. “Why did you fight him? Was it because he took me to the village?”
Reaching out, I untangle her arms. I like to look at her pretty breasts. “He endangered your life and disrespected my wishes by taking you there.”
“I’m a big girl, Aruan. I know how to take care of myself.”
I push up on one elbow. “That’s my job, even more so when there’s an assassin on the loose.” My tone is cold and hard, making it clear how serious I am about this. “In the future, think twice before you let Kian convince you to make wrong decisions. He’s lucky my father showed up when he did. Next time, my brother won’t walk away. The only way he’ll leave that clearing is if he’s dragged out by his feet. I can assure you that Vitai will have his work cut out for him if that happens.”
She scoffs. “For grown-up men, you’re behaving an awful lot like children.”
I shrug. “That’s how we settle arguments in Lona.”
“With your fists? You could simply lash at each other with your powers, throw sticks or something at one another with your minds.”
That makes me chuckle. “Our powers aren’t allowed in the clearing. That’d be cheating.”
“What’s the point of giving someone a beating if Vitai is going to heal him anyway?”
“The point, my sweet, is showing that I’m stronger and that I won’t hesitate to kill anyone, family or not, if their willful actions cause you harm.”
“That’s harsh.”
“That’s our law.” I sit up and get off the bed before offering her a hand. Now that the brutal pleasure of our physical bonding has faded, the violence runs hot in my veins again. “Come. We smell like we’ve been fucking. We’d better have a bath before we question the palace inhabitants, unless you don’t care if they know what we did.”
She rolls her eyes, climbs from the bed, and takes my hand. “You’re crude, you know that?”
My smile is forced this time, my mind already on the next steps.
First, I’m going to interrogate a few people and get Kian to read some minds. Then I’m going to have a word with the human woman, Sandy, for the way she spoke to Elsie. And then I’ll take Elsie away, making sure she stays out of Lona for a while.
I won’t rest until I find the piece of swamp slime who sabotaged the bridge, the traitor who’s trying to kill my mate.
Chapter 14
Elsie
The visitors from Marikanea—my biological family—have retreated to rest. Aruan tells me they were eager to meet me, but in light of what happened, the king convinced them to let me find my bearings first. I believe it’s just an excuse to win time to investigate the sabotage. Kian is already reading the minds of the palace residents, and Aruan is questioning everyone in case someone saw something.
So far, we’re none the wiser.
The plan was to leave for Marikanea after dinner tonight, as per my family’s request. Apparently, they don’t want to leave the kingdom unattended for too long. Seeing that the queen is organizing a banquet in their honor, she managed to twist their arms into leaving tomorrow morning.
True to his promise, Aruan keeps me at his side. He even takes me with him when he conducts the questioning in the banquet hall. I’ve been on edge throughout the morning. I suppose multiple attempts on your life will have that effect.
To my surprise, Aruan also keeps his promise to take me to the sacred site in the afternoon. I didn’t think he’d cut his interrogations short. Maybe he thinks the outing will take my mind off this morning’s events. He knows how curious I am about the scrolls.
I’m dressed for the occasion in a clean pair of pants and a shirt with my favorite boots. As usual, when he’s not taking care of official business, Aruan wears a tunic and dark pants. We’re strolling hand-in-hand over the hill, enjoying the sunshine and the quiet—and each other’s company, to be honest—when voices reach us.
Laughter comes from the tall shrubs that line the path. Three boys jump out of the thick vegetation with makeshift stick dragons that they fly through the air. At the sight of us, they drop their toys with exclamations of fright and sprint down the path in the direction of the village.
I turn to Aruan. “They can’t seriously be that terrified of us.”
The line of Aruan’s jaw hardens, but he doesn’t reply.
“Or…” A nasty suspicion settles in the pit of my stomach. “Are they just afraid of me because I can control the dragons?”
“Come.” He pulls me along. “They’re just kids.”
“They probably listen to scary stories their parents tell about us at night around the dinner table.” The thought leaves me sad. “How can you blame them for being frightened?”