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)
Reynald blinked. Everard’s name always made an impression. He was the scary bastard all other scary bastards were afraid of. I had to strike while the iron was hot.
“The Sleepless Duke divides the world into friends and foes. You either obey him, or you are against him, and if you oppose him, he will kill you, your family, your neighbors, your pets, and just to be thorough he will burn your house and salt your fields. He solves every problem with violence, and if that doesn’t work, he applies more violence. He is just one of the people who will be drawn into this mess up to their eyeballs.”
Clover looked worried. Kaiden looked undeterred, but he was barely twelve.
I met Reynald’s gaze. “You may have to cross blades with Everard. Think about it.”
In a fight between Everard and Reynald, Reynald would lose, and he knew it. It would be an amazing fight, but Everard had the Fatefire.
Reynald’s light eyes turned resolute. “Thank you for your care for me and my son. However, I’m not the kind of man who runs and hides from his responsibility. I will not teach my son to take the coward’s way out.”
His face told me that we were done arguing and I had lost. I looked at Clover.
Clover raised her chin. A determined spark lit up her blue eyes. “Do either of you know how to run a household? Where to purchase supplies and at what prices, which traders are reputable, how to balance a budget?”
“No,” I said.
Reynald shook his head. His lips curved in a small smile.
“I know the prices, so we won’t get swindled. I know the right traders, I know medicine, I know etiquette, I know how to file the right forms with the government.”
She had a point.
“If we do this, Maggie will need to look like a lady. I’m proficient in hair, cosmetics, and attire. I can dress you in the latest fashion, so you will present the impression you want to the world. You have a huge house and no idea how to take care of it. You can’t even do your hair properly. You need help.”
I opened my mouth. She didn’t let me get the words out.
“Maggie will be the head of the household, Reynald will be head of the household guard, and I will be the steward maid. I’ll be staying here. I won’t let my brothers die. The Hreban Family will not take anything else from me. And I owe Reynald and you a debt for saving us. I pay my debts. I will help save Matheo and destroy Ulmar Hreban. This is settled. Come, Kaiden.”
For once Kaiden didn’t argue. He jumped to his feet and followed her out.
Okay then. I looked at Reynald.
“You heard her. It’s settled,” he said.
The hell it was.
“I will do this with or without you, Maggie,” Reynald said. “I need to know if you have my back. If you don’t help me, I’ll have to change the future myself, and I have no idea what happens next. In or out?”
He’d remembered what I told him in the Knight Vanquisher Plaza almost word for word. Wow.
His lips curved.
“What about Matheo?”
“My son is safe for now. He will wait for me.”
“Are you sure?”
“I can bear to be separated from him for a few more months if it means he will grow up in a peaceful kingdom. Let me join you. Help me save my son from a future of suffering.”
I gave up. “Then I am in.”
“Good.” He stood up. “I’m going to drop off the bodies. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
I stood up, too. “I’ll help you.”
“It will be grisly work.”
“I said I was in. I’ll manage.”
I took a deep breath and followed him down the stairs, to a basement full of corpses we needed to load onto the boat.
Dead bodies were heavy as hell.
I knew this. It was one of those academic facts you learned from reading, never expecting to encounter it in real life, until you had to drag eleven corpses about a hundred feet through a stone passageway and then carry them over a grassy bank to a boat in the middle of the night.
In the fantasy books filling my shelves, heroes slung limp humans over their shoulders with a manly growl and then hauled them like they weighed nothing. The level of bullshit involved was criminal. Reynald was a lot stronger than me, and he grunted, strained, and took frequent breaks.
Finally, all the corpses were in. Reynald paused on the dock and held his hand out. I took it—it was rock steady—and he carefully helped me into the boat. He put his hand on the mooring line and stomped twice on the dock boards.
I glanced at him.
“For luck,” he said. “It’s tradition.”
This world or ours, sailors were superstitious everywhere.