Total pages in book: 197
Estimated words: 186911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 935(@200wpm)___ 748(@250wpm)___ 623(@300wpm)
No wonder our fae forces couldn’t find it. No wonder we could never stop trying.
“Enough,” I announced, facing him. “No more games. No more stories. This is not my home. It can’t be. I need to get back to Lyrica. I have—” people who need me.
The rest of the sentence wouldn’t come out. Seemed Princess Emiana did not have anyone in Lyrica who needed her. Well, I did, and I wouldn’t be a bird in Shadowsoul’s cage any more than I’d be a pawn in Emiana’s escape.
“—important things to do,” I finished. “Take me back, or Meya bless it, open the door and throw me out here. I don’t care. I just need you to let me go. What will it take for you to dub this the shortest sham marriage in fae history? Name your price.”
“To make such a statement one must have something to bargain.” He leveled that hated smirk on me—the one that said I was being a funny little bird again. “What will you give me if I let you go?”
“You can tell everyone—all the nations—that I, Princess Emiana, am responsible for breaking the treaty. I have let down my people—nay, the entire fae race, and I should be named and condemned for the selfish, manipulative witch I am.” Of course the curse let me say that. Every word of it was true.
“Hmm,” he vocalized, tipping his chin. The act drew my attention to how full and chiseled it was. A sharp fist clench and nails piercing my palm made me stop. “This is awkward for you, little bird, because I already ordered my people to spread that very truth throughout the kingdoms. Nearly word for word.” He cocked his head, studying me in that unsettling way. “What else?”
“This can be your chance to prove the whole world is wrong about you. Deep down, there is goodness and kindness in your soul. What price can be put on your redemption—?”
“No.”
I bit hard on my lip, penning in a stream of foul words. Something about his nos put me in a chokehold. My survival instincts sensed pushing him would have dire consequences.
“I—I will...” I cast my mind for something—anything. “Lie,” I blurted. “I will lie to King Salman, assuming he still lives, and tell him the heart no longer resides in the kingdom of Wind and Wild.”
His grin melted away, but mine widened. I had his attention now.
“I’ll say I witnessed you unearth it, put it in a chest, and tossed it in the sea. It now lurks at the bottom of the ocean, never to be recovered.” I leaned forward in my eagerness, bumping my knees against his. “One lie from these lips will end the war and grant peace—true peace—that your kingdom hasn’t known in over a thousand years. What say you?” I held out my hand. “Do we have a bargain?”
He eyed my hand, expression unreadable. “What you speak of is treason, my queen. Deliberately misleading your former king, acting as spy, and spreading false information to the detriment of their war effort. If discovered to be untrue, you will be tried and executed in a cauldron of molten iron.”
My throat seized. I was not aware of the punishment.
“Knowing this, you’d make such a bargain all for the sake of returning to Lyrica to attend to important things?”
The most important.
“Yes,” I said clearly. “I will.”
I thrust my hand out farther. “Do we have a bargain?”
“Well, well, it appeared you did have something to trade. You are not to be underestimated.” He firmly clasped my hand. “I will remember that.”
“No need.” I looked him in the eyes. “We will never see each other again after today.”
He laughed. “So it is.”
I broke free, ignoring the odd tingling going through my fingers and up my arm. “You can stop the carriage here.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. You have no food, water, or proper clothing. You’d never make it.” Alisdair pounded the roof of the carriage. “I will bring you back to Lyrica, and you will tell your lies. As agreed.”
The carriage jolted, nearly throwing me off the seat again, because we were turning. We were going home.
A happy noise burst from my throat—warped from a stolen voice, but still real and true. I couldn’t contain my happiness. Beaming, I said, “As agreed.”
Relaxing for the first time in over a week, I sank back into the cushion, settling in for a long silent ride.
After a spell, I closed the curtain myself. It made it easier to stare at him without him noticing.
He wasn’t what I was expecting in so many ways. His anger at discovering Emiana’s father hit her seemed genuine, but with the same breath he’d sworn to slaughter his Lyrican spies for relaying incorrect information. How did one who disregards life as casually as he did turn around and threaten someone else for their treatment of women?