Total pages in book: 222
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 210715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1054(@200wpm)___ 843(@250wpm)___ 702(@300wpm)
Solentine nodded. “I know that urge.”
“I’m mostly angry with myself. He goaded me, and I took the bait. I don’t even know what came over me. When someone says ‘let’s put all our cards on the table’ . . .”
“. . . you never put all your cards on that table,” we finished in one voice.
I nodded at him. “Yes. That.”
“Don’t feel bad,” he said. “Ramond is very difficult to manage.”
“He knows what’s at stake. If we don’t alter the future, he will have to fight a punishing war. He will halt the advance of the Crimson Empire in the north, but he will take heavy losses. Things will get so dire, he will have to marry Omelyana of Gor to shore up his defenses. I told him all of this because at the time I thought he was Reynald Karis. Had I known who he was, I would’ve run away screaming instead.”
“Ramond’s priorities are set in stone,” he said. “If he sees you as the key to halting that future, he will do everything to keep you. And I do mean everything.”
“I’m aware.”
“I would advise against sleeping with him,” Solentine said.
He’d finally come out and said it. “Are you attempting to safeguard my virtue?”
“Far it be from me to dictate what a woman does with her virtue. But you are my cousin now, and I see a disaster looming on the horizon, so I’m trying to shield you from it. Ramond has a way to make you feel . . .”
“Treasured?”
“Yes. Most people spend their lives trying to be noticed, often by the people they are closest to. Ramond doesn’t just notice, he sees you. He stands head and shoulders above the rest, and when he takes an interest, you feel important. He’ll treat you as a vital ally and acknowledge your talent and effort, and soon you’ll find yourself doing ridiculous things for his approval.”
“Sounds like you should be careful not to sleep with him.”
He laughed softly. “We both prefer female company, but it might’ve been easier if our relationship was just that. Only my heart would be broken instead of the future of my family.”
The carriage came to a stop. I glanced out of the window. In daylight, the Garden didn’t look quite as enchanting. Without the lights and music, it reverted back to its previous identity as an ancient fort. I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head. Solentine put his own cloak on and pulled a black coif over his face.
The carriage door swung open, and a tall man wrapped in a faded cloak offered me his hand. His lancer’s coif was down, and his eyes were green and unrepentant.
Behind me, Solentine swore.
I put my hand into Everard’s, and he helped me down.
I turned to the driver, a young, compact man with a mane of dark hair. “How long has he been with us?”
“He got on at Taryz, my lady.”
Solentine descended from the carriage.
“Have you taken leave of your senses?”
“Not that I’ve noticed.” Everard took my basket. For a second, I thought about holding on to it, but playing tug of war with him in front of the Garden wouldn’t be a good look. “And for the record, you give me too little credit. I would take great care with your heart, Sol.”
Solentine rested his hand over his forehead and shut his eyes, as if he had been hit with a sudden, incapacitating migraine.
“Don’t be dramatic.” Everard faced me. “It doesn’t matter what he tells you. The truth is the Demarr family is formidable but of limited means. The Empire looms large across the border, ready to swallow them, while at home bigger predators hunt each other for power and money. In this ocean of monsters, the Demarrs have to swim in someone’s wake. I’m a great monster. They require my support. They cannot survive without it.”
“Sauven Savaric is also a monster,” I said.
“Yes, but Sauven is far away, and I’m right there in the Demarr backyard.” Everard smiled and pulled the coif to cover his face. “Something to keep in mind for the future. Shall we?”
We approached the doors. The two guards at the entrance of the Garden eyed us. It was too early in the morning for the Garden kind of shenanigans, and the plaza was deserted. Galiene and Hade would be taking their morning tea right about now. And here I was, some random woman accompanied by two armed men with their faces covered.
“Tell Galiene of Sosna that a woman without shoes is here,” I said.
The left guard went inside.
Moments ticked by.
Two men walked out of the Garden. One was the guard who’d gone to deliver my message, and the other was tall and muscular, with russet skin and short curly hair. A neatly trimmed beard hugged his jaw. He seemed to be somewhere on the crossroads of late twenties and early thirties. The mage from my first night.