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)
Our lands have been at war for over a century. My father died on a battlefield fighting to see the heart found and destroyed before it wiped out our home. Now the army had its sight set on my sweet, dreamy little brother, Jaclan. Tomorrow I would run away and leave this land of winter and ice behind, and with the heart in my pocket, tomorrow could also be the day the war between Elva and the kingdom of Wind and Wild ended.
I pressed tight to the wall, climbing higher—climbing faster.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
A faint glow filtered down the winding passage—signaling a torch ahead, and something that needed lighting.
I was running then. Bursting to the top of the stairs, I came to challenge with a large, oak door with brass panels, a brass knob, and a small keyhole.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
The beating heart was deafening. It called to me. Demanded me. Needed me.
I reached for the knob. “Dare I hope...” I grasped and turned.
The door swung open to my cry of delight.
Pushing it open, I took a step.
THUMP-THUMP.
The world spun on its head.
I barely got a scream before I was shoved against the wall, and the door slammed shut—snuffing out my glee like the light blown out behind Alisdair’s eyes.
“Tsk, tsk. Naughty, naughty.” Alisdair molded to my body, slipping his legs between mine. He snapped his apart which tore my feet off the floor and pressed both my thighs to the barrier blocking my escape. “A lost little bird will find the most interesting places to land, but I confess, I don’t much care for where your curiosity has taken you tonight.” His eyes flashed. “How did you get in here?”
“I walked,” I lofted, smirking despite the fact I had not a single advantage over him. “Now it’s my turn to ask a question. What’s in that room?”
“None of your concern.”
“I’ve made it my concern.” I shoved against his chest. “Get off! I’m going in.”
“I think not.” Alisdair waved a hand, and the door dissolved.
“No!” I cried, but it was already too late. It melted into stone, leaving no entrance, no room, no mark. “Argh! Tell me the truth, Alisdair. Is he in there!”
“He?” His brows smoothed out. “Aww. I see. This is about your pointless, irritating quest to be that fox boy’s champion and borrowed mother. How very stupid.”
My face heated. Kicking and wiggling, I strained to get my feet between me and his body so I could kick the bastard through the wall! “It isn’t stupid to fight for the protection and safety of those with none! A kingdom isn’t measured by how it caters to its strong, wealthy, and privileged. It’s measured by how it gives voice to the voiceless, stands up for the vulnerable, and does what’s right for all people, instead of what’s convenient for some.”
I scoffed. “But I wouldn’t expect you, Lord Beast, King of Blood and Torn Throats, to grasp such a simple concept. You’re too stupid.”
A beastly growl ripped from his throat, chasing a shiver up my spine. “You are a special breed of hypocrite, Princess. You dare to lecture me on the measure of a kingdom and its king?!”
“What’s that supposed to mean!?”
“Your kingdom is barbaric!”
I don’t know when we started shouting, but we were each doing it as well and better than the other.
“Mine? Ha!” My insane shriek of a laugh blew his brow up. “You slaughter people as soon as you look at them, and treat my body as your personal buffet. What right have you to speak ill of my people?”
“I have the right to speak ill of anyone who looks upon you and sees anything less than absolute magnificence,” he threw back. “They stole your magic because you’re a woman, but you are magic itself. Your body will carry our children. Your wisdom will lead our people. Your nights in my bed will soothe me at my most savage.
“Your people are worse than barbaric for underestimating you. They’re plain fools.”
My heart pounded my rib cage, banging its reply against his chest. My jaw worked trying to form a response, but he did it. He struck me silent.
Did Alisdair truly see me that way? Magnificence? Magic itself? Did he hate the summer fae all the more for what they did to me?
A million blushing thoughts raced through my head, then... he smirked.
Red descended on my vision.
“Enough,” I bellowed. “I am sick of your games. Your manipulations. You don’t believe a single word of the nonsense you’re spouting. Not a minute ago, you were calling me the fool!”
Alisdair barked a laugh. “Both and all of those things can be true.”
A snarl peeled from my lips. The beast curse was changing me, because my growl was positively feral. “I said enough. No more games. Tell me where the boy is now.”
“How about this—?” Alisdair snapped his fingers, and I fell.