Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 77730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Jet lowered down, turning me toward the small bit of light still coming through the window.
“Looks like a possible needle prick to me.” He looked over at Vishen. “One of the servants.”
“Yeah,” Vishen said, eyes darkening. “I’ll get on that. Until then, I think it would be wise for one of us to be glued to her day and night. Or have her locked away somewhere so no one can get to her.”
“You’re still working on getting her a guard, right?”
“Right. I’m leaning toward someone fresh out of the academy. A woman, maybe. In my experience, they’re more observant. And harder to corrupt.”
“Sounds good to me. And she could go places a male guard might not be able to. As soon as you can with that.”
“Will do. Okay. Serin. These drugs will wear off by tomorrow afternoon, so long as you stay clear of anyone who isn’t us.”
I nodded.
“Then we can figure out what is going on with her,” Jet said. “Look how pale she is.”
“Yeah. And the sleeping on top of the body aches. Everything seems to be getting worse.”
“How about something to eat?” Jet asked. “Then maybe try to rest again. Seems like you might need it.”
I’d barely been awake ten minutes, but my eyes already felt heavy again. But if it was possible to sleep through the pain, dehydration, and discomfort until I could wake up and speak to them, that was what I wanted.
So that was what I did.
With a fire raging and Jet pulling me tight when the shivers racked my system and silent cries moved through me as the pain intensified.
And then, thankfully, oblivion.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Jet
“She still sleeping?” I asked Vishen, who’d run to check on Serin while I had another tense discussion with my father.
“Yes. Knight is glued to her, and I re-locked the door when I left. Hopefully, she can talk to us when she wakes up.”
“Yeah. I’m glad to have a name, at least. But we need to be able to speak to her.”
“We will. But first, let’s meet with a possible guard.”
“Who is this one?”
“She just graduated last week. So hopefully we got to her before the system could really corrupt her.”
“That it?”
Vishen shot me a smirk. “Her file noted her as ‘unnecessarily violent’ during sparring drills. As well as ‘headstrong,’ ‘outspoken,’ and ‘independent.’”
“All marks against her when it comes to the military,” I observed.
“But makes for a good guard,” Vishen said. “She was orphaned in her teens, enlisted as soon as she was old enough, hasn’t seemed to make any friends…”
“So, there are no connections to worry about.”
“And being so deeply untrusting of other people, she’s not likely to let anyone within five feet of your wife.”
“Good. Let’s interview her. Get her hired. I don’t like leaving her alone when she’s not even able to scream. What?” I asked when Vishen shot me a look.
“You’re uncharacteristically protective of your new bride, don’t you think?”
“I don’t want her silenced or dead before I can question her. It’s different.”
“Is it?” he asked, shooting me a smirk. “I’ll send for the guard. Meet me behind the shed in twenty.”
I ducked back into my quarters.
Seeing the way Serin was trembling, I made my way back to the hearth, piling the wood and lighting a roaring fire.
“Sorry, Knight,” I said, petting his head before bringing in a large bowl of water for him. “I won’t be long. Then you can escape this hell.”
I made my way out of the room, checking the lock, then continuing down the hall and out of the castle, trying to avoid being seen by any of the staff, who might then try to get into my room while I was away.
I somehow managed to avoid the damn redcaps who were standing, staring at the usual exits. They were too dumb to think I might come out a side door.
Vishen was waiting for me behind the shed.
“How is she?”
“Shivering hard again.”
Vishen winced.
“Hopefully, when she wakes up, she will be able to speak. Then we can figure out what’s wrong with her. Maybe she has some sort of tonic she needs for a chronic ailment or something.”
I hadn’t considered that.
But it made sense.
Why else would she get so unwell so quickly, revive a bit, then get worse again?
“Get your fucking hands off me, you hedge-born loiter-sack!” a female voice snapped as footsteps crunched closer.
Vishen shot me a smirk.
“I guess Serin’s guard is here,” I said, chuckling.
Just as she rounded the shed, one of the male soldiers reached out again to shove the woman’s shoulder, making her stumble. And that, it seemed, was an indignity she could not forgive.
In a move so fast it seemed to blur, she reached into a sheath attached to her belt, pulled out a knife, and held it to the man’s throat.
“Touch me one more time, and I’ll paint this whole forest in the lovely shade of Soldier Goon, Number Fifty-Seven.”