Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121339 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
And we’re walking, Niall said quickly, plucking her sleeve to get going. Don’t look back.
That was fucking close, Lennox said, shaken. Glimrey was putting all his power behind cracking my shields.
Yeah. Niall hurried them along, getting glances and not caring. If there hadn’t been three of us to split his focus, he might’ve gotten through. He’s desperate to know what the king is planning.
Do fae not usually do that? Daisy asked as they turned a corner. They didn’t slow down.
No, Lennox said. Oh, they’ll read a mind that is open for the taking, but to get past shields, they’re usually sneaky. Drugs, pixie wine—something to loosen up the victim or knock them out entirely. They’d need the victim to be too far gone to remember what happened, because the practice itself is an act of hostility in a court. It is essentially sneaking into someone’s chambers and rifling through their possessions. Glimrey really ought to know better. He is gentry with one of the highest statuses in this court.
He thinks Tarian is a puppet, Niall said. A fool. They all do, even though they fear him. They think the king can keep him on a leash. That trade offer was nothing but smoke. Calling attention to Tarian not being of royal birth, as far as Glimrey knows, was a slight. He knows Tarian is trapped here by some sort of deal. They all know that. He knows very well that Tarian can’t leave, or he would’ve done it by now. Glimrey wants the information regarding that bridge. Everyone must know that Tarian brought back the crystal chalice, which they think is the item in the throne room. With the Celestial unrest growing and magic starting to twist, everyone wants out. They want to escape to lands where they can rule themselves with unlimited power.
They reached Tarian’s chambers. Niall worked his hands, using magic to tear down the ward, before opening the door and ushering her inside.
“Think he believed that Tarian was capable of following through on that threat?” Lennox fell onto the couch with a sigh. He massaged his head.
“Wouldn’t he be worried that Tarian knows he’s a spy?” Daisy asked, sinking into a chair. She massaged her head as well. That had been rough.
“The king knows Glimrey is a spy.” Lennox let his head fall back. “He says he is loyal to the Obsidian Throne but that he needs to trade information sometimes.”
“And the twisted king believes him.” Niall huffed and shook his head, finally taking a seat.
“He has no reason not to,” Lennox replied. “Not yet, at any rate. So far, Glimrey has given the king everything he wants, and Tarian hasn’t mentioned the times Glimrey was selling more than he was gaining. Tarian has it in hand…though…”
“He’ll have to make good on that threat to keep it in hand,” Niall surmised. “And I bet Glimrey doesn’t believe Tarian would do it, not when he’d have to defy the royalty.”
“They don’t think that,” Daisy murmured softly, remembering the look in Glimrey’s eyes. Remembering the guards who had relinquished her to Tarian, the prison wards, the servants who had hustled away… “This court is scared shitless of Tarian. He’s wild. He’s dangerous. He’s trapped, but he’s not tamed. They all know it.” She sucked on her bottom lip, going over everything she knew and the possible allure of the crystal chalice. “But Tarian’s threats don’t matter if they get what they want before he finds out. They can leave…and they know he can’t.”
“They don’t know how to use the crystal chalice, though,” Niall said. “Even if they grabbed it, they wouldn’t get what they wanted.”
Daisy shook her head. “They want what’s in our heads. You heard him. He thinks I know the details about all of this, and he thinks he can break into my mind. Honestly…he might be able to if I don’t fortify myself better. That was an iffy situation back there.”
“Besides the royals, he’s the most powerful person in this court,” Lennox said gravely.
She believed it.
“If I don’t figure out how to null magic, I’ll have my head cracked open, and then they’ll take me and try to use me. I have to get to work.”
17
Daisy
The cooling water lapped at Daisy’s neck, and her hair hung down the sides of her face. The rest of her body was submerged.
The contraptions from Eldric had shown up in Tarian’s chambers shortly after Daisy and the guys had sat down. Lennox said Tarian must’ve visited Eldric right after he’d pried Glimrey out of their minds. Only he could magically send things across the ward to his private quarters. Daisy had wasted no time working with the apparatuses.
Twenty minutes in—or that was what it felt like; Tarian’s clock was a bunch of symbols she didn’t understand—and Niall had sent for Faelynn. Those contraptions gave no quarter. If she didn’t get it perfectly right, she got a shock or a head slam. Partial learning was not an option.