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)
Nothing slowed him, tired him, or filled him with mercy.
I rolled out of bed, biting hard on my lip. My whole body was one big ache. My only saving grace was that even though I was a maiden, Emiana obviously was not. If it had been her first time too, neither of us would’ve walked for a week.
I waddled across the room, wincing and bobbing side to side. “I’m barely walking now.”
With difficulty, I made it to the wash basin. One touch confirmed what the steam told me. It was wonderfully hot, proving someone had brought it in minutes before I woke. Was this the life of a prin— No, a queen? To have my needs anticipated before I opened my eyes in the morning?
If only Emiana hadn’t let fear and ignorance drive her to ruin my life and run away. She would’ve found herself no less pampered and catered to in Castle Riagin.
Gazing around, I wondered at this life I’d fallen into.
High ceilings painted with scenes of battle looked down on me. All the gaudy golds, diamonds, and silvers adorning the castle hadn’t made it into this room. The simpleness of the small wash basin, black-stain nightstand, and a bed half the size of Emiana’s—made it all the more grand.
Next to the wash basin was a stand with towels, soaps, scents, and oils. Beside that was a tall clothing rack carrying no less than four dressing robes. I chose the longest and fluffiest, wrapping myself up tight.
Of course I was freezing, the bedchamber only had three walls.
I crossed the room, padding over red tiles with flecks of coudarian blue. The wall gently sloped down, giving way to a small ledge that tipped off into the free, cold air.
Slowly, I inched as far as I dared, gazing down, down, down to the sleepy town and thick forest, and rolling mountains spreading out before me.
Amazing. Truly, the most amazing view, and still not worth the sacrifice of a wall.
I scrambled away, heading straight for my bed and warm sheets. I would have to tell Aeris, or anyone, that I needed a new bedchamber. Or even a cot next to a fireplace would do as well. The people of Elva were summer fae. The cold wasn’t meant to live in our bones.
I rounded the headboard, getting the first proper look at my bed, and screamed.
Clapping my hand over my mouth, my eyes were huge, looking upon the—
“Monster.”
Thick, black horns burst from his scalp and curved down to his shoulders. Long claws sunk into the remains of a pillow, and a large, furry mass slung over his leg. A tail. Its nose was smashed in, but its maw the size of the basin—terrifyingly long, lethal fangs refused to be contained in its face. It’s hideous, disfigured face.
It was huge. Twice the size of a bear with half the fur. Most of it covered its back, legs, and forearms, leaving its chest bare.
I stilled, fixing on a familiar rune on his stomach.
“Shadowsoul?” I whispered, backing away.
I hadn’t imagined it. All those times it seemed like his claws were smaller, or his fangs were longer. The reason why he looked so close to fae while his subjects were succumbing to the curse. He was using magic to hold the beast at bay. This was the true him, and he looked like...
“Taken.”
I ran.
Bursting through the doors, I collided with a hard body.
“Oh, Queen Ana.” Aeris set me back on my feet. Nose wrinkling, she backed away a pace. “Are you all right? I was just coming to fetch you. Your baths are read—”
“Let’s go,” I ordered, already brushing past and leading the way. “A bath is exactly what I need.”
I spared only one glance back at the monster I’d bound myself to till the end of everything.
“I SEE YOU DID NOT LAST until dawn.”
My face flushed at the burst of giggles that sounded behind me.
We were in my baths again. Aeris combed and braided Emiana’s hair—all traces of white leaving with the sun’s arrival.
I couldn’t believe that even while cursed to wear another’s skin, I couldn’t escape my other curse. My first one.
Since the day of my birth, my hair has turned white in the moonlight. No one—not my mother, not our neighbors, not the healers knew why, or how, I came to be this way. I couldn’t even say if it was a curse, because no such curse was known by fae. But then of course, one did not need magic to be cursed.
There was a reason that although we were all struggling, all poor, and nearly all the children of war wives, I was singled out for chasing, beating, and bullying. Only I was the keva with the strange, color-changing hair. Only I the freak.
But Alisdair said nothing of it, and he said a great many things last night while fucking the sense out of me.