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)
His eyes widened.
“Joris is very good at what he does, and omaran has no antidote. If you feel sick, don’t take the extract of wodon flower. It will make things worse. Drink a glass of water and make yourself vomit, and then do it again, and again. Your only hope is to dilute and purge the poison before your body digests it. Promise me.”
He stared.
“Ramond, promise me!”
“I promise.”
“You swear?”
“I do.” He nodded. “I’ll be careful. Trust me, Maggie.”
I realized I was still clutching his chair and let go.
“Thank you for warning me,” he said.
“Don’t thank me.” I dropped into my chair. “Just don’t die.”
We fell silent. Everard stood up and looked at the window, thinking about something. He looked very regal right now, elegant and focused, his face severe and unforgiving.
I didn’t want him to die.
He was leaving the house, which played right into my hands. I needed to do things, and his presence would make them impossible. He would never let me rescue Isadau. More, this was my chance to escape his grasp. When he came back, he would arrive in public. The Accords he’d signed limited his movement in the capital and he would be closely watched. This was our last chance to spend time together.
It felt like someone had stabbed me in the heart and twisted the knife.
I would miss him. No, that was nowhere near adequate. Not having him hear would feel like a hole had been torn in my life. He was at once a threat and my safety net, and he took up so much room. As long as he was in this house, no intruder would make it past him, but that’s not what I would miss the most. I would miss his wit, his sharp mind, his rare smiles, the way he looked at me, his body, his voice . . . Him, I would miss him.
Oh, I’d fallen really hard. If there was any doubt before, it was all gone now, because when I thought about Joris, panic punched me right in the heart. I was terrified Ramond would die.
Damn it.
“How did he do it in your future?” he asked.
“He gifted you a dagger.”
“Was the blade poisoned?”
“The sheath. He soaked the leather in a solution of powdered omaran, and the sheath felt slightly sticky. Once you handled it, you washed your hands, and the water activated the poison. Then you rubbed your face, getting it into your eyes and mouth.” I took a deep breath. “You bled from your eyes for three days, Ramond.”
“Killing me puts the entire northern border at risk,” Everard said. “I don’t have an heir, so the Dukedom would pass to my cousin. Her Fatefire is only a shadow of mine, and she is barely fourteen. That daft prick would risk his kingdom and his throne to kill me.”
“Sauven is afraid for his crown prince,” I said. “Every time he builds a coalition around his son, Kiel does something to fracture it. Sauven sees you as a threat that can end his line. He fears you more than he fears the Crimson Empire. And he hates you.”
“Because I look like my father? Because I refuse to tolerate his inane nonsense?”
“Because you are everything Kiel Savaric is not. You inspire people. They devote themselves to you. Kiel has his magic, his sword, and his glib charm, but his arrogance and rage keep him from truly understanding human emotions. He doesn’t form bonds of loyalty; he manipulates, intimidates, and uses people, and they recognize it. He hasn’t built a foundation for his throne, and he never will. Sauven knows it. It keeps him up at night.”
He walked around the desk and leaned his back against it, leaving me no room to get up off my chair. There was barely any space between us.
“Come with me to Selva.”
It was almost a plea.
“You know I can’t.”
“I don’t want to leave you here without my protection.”
“I have the Magnars and the Shears.”
“Come with me. I swear on the memory of my father I will bring you back to Kair Toren in twenty days.”
“I can’t. There are things I must do here. The future—”
“Fuck the future. If I come back here and find you gone, I will level this damn city. If you care for Kair Toren, come with me.”
I had to put some distance between us. I stood up. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close, and rested his forehead against mine. “Maggie . . .”
Oh, no. My whole body sang when he touched me.
“Don’t leave me alone. Let me take you to Selva.”
I had to break free of him, and not just because I couldn’t trust him or because he would use me. I needed to know if I could survive in Kair Toren without him. I’d been leaning on him like a crutch, first when he was Reynald and then again when he was the Sleepless Duke sleeping under the same roof. I had to find out if I could make it on my own.