Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
His expression was hard, a battle commander going to the front line.
“Rise and blossom, little flower. It’s time to go.”
She didn’t move for a moment, wondering if he would hasten her or drag her out. Instead, he waited patiently.
With a sigh she knew he heard, she pushed to sitting and hit him with a glower. A little smile peeked out from under his hard mask. Fantastic. How nice that he was getting a kick out of her bad mood.
When she crawled in his direction, he stood back and let her climb from the wagon. He didn’t reach to tie her wrists or turn to shield the dagger that sat in a belt at his side. He wasn’t scared of her.
Her mood darkened still. Of course he wasn’t, but…it would’ve been nice if he at least didn’t trust her.
I definitely do not trust you, he said softly in her mind. Why do you think I haven’t given you your weapon back?
“What weapon?” she asked.
“Your gift. The one you stored outside your room where my mind couldn’t reach you. You made it very easy for me to retrieve. Thanks for that.”
She frowned at him. “When did you get that?”
“Shortly after the sluagh had acquired you. I was in no rush. I knew you’d be taken to this area. It is the best place to enter the fringe, after all—something the Sapphire Throne has learned from my travels. They have greatly trodden on my patience. Worse than that, however, is they have a leaky court, more so than the Obsidian Court. They have many spies that go unchecked. They believe that housing their court in the Sea of Stars will somehow shield them from outsiders, when their own court is anxious to win favor with other kingdoms. They are the ones who sell the most information. Their queen is shortsighted and her court badly run. The Celestials…”
His lips pressed together, cutting off the information. Everything he’d said soaked into her mind. She’d collect every scrap of knowledge he let slip from here on out. Even seemingly useless information could have a purpose if used correctly.
Then it was she who pressed her lips together, even though it was her thoughts that were the problem. She’d need to get used to a meditative state around him, keeping her thoughts from acting like words.
A very good trick to learn, he told her, the sun highlighting his beautiful face. I have instruments to help with that as soon as we get to my chambers.
A rush of heat flared through her, but she squashed it just as quickly. She’d be damned if this strange feeling between them made a fool of her. If he wanted anything from her, it would have to be forced. And if he came that close, it would result in his demise.
“Noted,” he said teasingly, leading her toward the pile of ash replacing last night’s fire. The rest of the camp was completely squared away. All the items had been cleared, magical and mundane alike, the crystal chalice with them. Sliced fruit waited for her on a slate board, along with nuts, cheese, and a butt of bread. The air this morning was crisp and fresh, and she watched the beautiful colors of dawn wash across the sky.
Last night, after he took care of the horses, he’d brought his own horse out of the darkness. A donkey with pack saddles had followed. That would’ve been the ideal time to ask where they were and why they didn’t use cars. Why everything seemed like her lands but different at the same time.
That, however, would’ve led to a host of other questions, like a general “What the fuck?” And “Why me, when I don’t even have magic?” And “Have you always been the absolute worst?” Those wouldn’t have helped, though, and fatigue had made her punchy, so she’d bottled up her words and emotions and been thankful when he put her under.
Now, though, it was a new day. Time to get to work.
“It seems like we’re still in the human lands. Where are we, exactly?” she asked when she’d finished her breakfast.
He cleared away her empty containers and any trash before handing her a scuffed metal water bottle. Once she’d taken it, he finished preparing to leave. All his movements were fast and efficient but not hurried. He’d done this countless times, and it showed.
“It goes by many names,” he said. “The borderlands are used most often. The frontier. The waste.”
“This is the hollow alongside the fae barrier?”
He quirked an eyebrow as he latched the packs to the donkey. “That’s one I haven’t heard. The hollow.” He pondered that. “I can see how that works. And yes, the very same.”
“But the books said this place was a wasteland with…nothing.” She slid her gaze across the tall grasses around the trees, spying a bright purple wildflower. “They said there was no animal life, no nature…a scourge, kinda. This can’t be that place.”