Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
I just didn’t want to…hurt anyone. Not on purpose.
I swallowed thickly, forcing myself to get a move on. I went into the bathing chamber and grabbed a clean washcloth. I placed a towel beside the tub and knelt. I tugged off the slip and already missed the faint trace of citrus that clung to the material. Keeping an eye on the entryway, I quickly washed myself and then dunked my head in the tub, vigorously scrubbing at my hair. It had taken an ungodly amount of time to work out all the tangles after, but it was nearly dry by the time I went to the wardrobe.
There weren’t many options left when it came to attire: a few sweaters, a pair of thick, black leggings, and three gowns. I chose a sweater and some leggings and then joined Orphine in the hall.
The draken was silent as she led me to the palace’s first floor, a book once again tucked under her arm. The only sound was that of our boots rapping off the stone floors.
“I’m sorry about Davina,” I said, not knowing if she had been close to the draken or not. When I got no response, I glanced over at her. “And I’m…I’m also sorry for making you feel like you failed at your duty. It wasn’t your fault, and it’s not like you expected me to climb down from the balcony.”
Orphine arched a brow, but that was it. Pressing my lips together, I looked away as guilt settled heavily in my chest. I imagined that her dislike of me had grown to rampant hatred, and I couldn’t exactly blame—
“You’re right,” she said. “I didn’t expect you to scale the palace walls. I doubt many would, but I do appreciate the apology…and what you intended to do.”
My head swung to her as we reached the stairs. “You do?”
“What you did would’ve ended in disaster,” she said. “But your willingness to take such a risk speaks of your integrity. And that is to be respected. Honored.”
Respected? Honored? I tried to think of a time when I had been on the receiving end of either of those things as we crossed under an archway. Before the night of my seventeenth birthday, I’d been honored, but not for anything I’d done. Only for what my family believed I could do for the kingdom. They respected that. Not me.
We reached the empty but brightly lit foyer and passed under the cascading glass candles powered by Primal energy. I half-expected an entire armed fleet of guards to be waiting for us. Forcing out a short breath, I glanced at the plain, white pedestal with nothing on it, wondering for the umpteenth time what, if anything, had once sat there. A nervous sort of energy buzzed through me as we passed the entryways to the halls, one of which held Nyktos’s office. The palace was eerily silent as we passed that corridor.
My anxiousness ramped up. “Where are we going?”
“To Nyktos,” she answered. That much was already apparent, but she didn’t elaborate.
I folded an arm over my stomach as my gaze shifted to the throne room. My steps slowed. I couldn’t remember seeing the doors closed before. If I had, then I was less observant than I realized because there was a beautiful design painted on them. The same kind of scrolling vines embroidered on the tunics Nyktos and his guards wore had been engraved in silver. White poplar leaves bloomed from the vines. In the center of each door were two crescent moons facing each other, and in the space between them, across the closed doors and painted behind the spiraling vines, was the shape of a wolf.
A white wolf.
I blinked, my brows pinching as I stared at the design—
The ember belonging to Nyktos hummed in my chest as the doors silently swung open upon our approach, revealing two unfamiliar guards. My pulse skittered. Why was I meeting him in here? Senses on high alert, I entered the throne room and jerked to a stop.
Under the glow of the star-strewn sky high above the open ceiling, and the thousands of lit candles lining the walls, stood…good gods, there had to be hundreds of men and women standing in the throne room, garbed in the dark gray of the Primal’s guards and armed to within an inch of their lives.
It couldn’t be all of them because I knew the Rise and Lethe wouldn’t go unprotected, but the vast, circular chamber was nearly full. My wide gaze swung over the sea of faces. I caught sight of Saion standing with Rhahar across from Rhain and Ector. Another male stood with them, one with dark, wavy hair and the same pale, ivory skin as Orphine. Rhain looked away, his jaw tight as my gaze touched his.
My confusion only rose as I saw Lailah and Theon, joined by a purplish-black-scaled draken that reached the height of their knees. It was strange seeing Reaver in his draken form when he’d looked like a boy of ten with shaggy blond hair, an elfin face, and solemn, too-serious eyes the last time I’d seen him. Then I looked at the dais.