Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Nylian’s fist trembled as he raised it to pound on the ground, but I caught it before it could strike. With a squeeze, I dragged his watery eyes to my face. “How do you know he was the target?”
The elf blinked wide eyes at me. His lips parted, but there was only silence besides a distant drip of water.
“What are you talking about?” he demanded at last. His voice was still low, as if we were discussing secrets, and maybe we were.
“Walk me through that day. You said it happened during a duel.”
Nylian nodded. “Someone had put poison on my blade, and it got into his bloodstream from a minor cut he suffered in the duel.”
I waved my hands at him. “You’ve skipped too much.” I turned on the straw to face him and rested my shoulder on the cold stone wall. “Did you and your brother duel often?”
“Yes, at least once a week if we were both in the castle. Sometimes more often.”
“Same place?”
“Yes, if the weather was nice, there was a large courtyard we used. If the weather was poor, we took over the ballroom.”
“So, it was likely common knowledge around the castle this happened?”
Nylian made an irritated, impatient noise, but nodded again. “Yes. I’m sure all the servants and most of the court knew about our duels, but we wouldn’t let anyone in to watch. We didn’t want the annoyance or distraction.”
“Did you use the sword I see you carry?”
“No, of course not!” That answer was sharper. To the point where I was afraid he was going to hit me. But the elf controlled his temper and lowered his voice. “We have special dueling swords. They are lighter weight with a dull edge, so we can’t accidentally harm one another.”
“But of those dueling swords, you have one specific sword and Orian has another.”
“No, not really. The swords are identical.”
“So, you don’t always fight with the same sword?”
“No, that’s impossible.” Annoyance was growing thick in his voice as he shifted to face me. “The dueling swords are identical in every way. They are stored together in a case that’s kept with all the other training supplies. Usually, one of us tells a servant to fetch the swords and where to bring them. That day, the weather had been nice. We spent some time practicing some archery while we waited for the swords. When we were done, the swords were waiting on a table for us.”
“Who chose a sword first?”
Nylian was on his feet in a flash, pacing our cell, making it feel smaller with every pass. “No,” he snapped, no longer willing to even glance in my direction. “No. I know what you’re thinking, and you are wrong.” He turned and grabbed the iron bars with both hands with a hiss. “Orian would never…”
Swearing under my breath, I shoved to my feet and hurried across the short distance separating us. “You don’t know what I’m thinking, and it’s clear you’re not thinking at all.” I grabbed his wrists and violently ripped his hands away from the bars. Just from that short period of time, his fingers were already red and looked to be forming welts. Iron and the fae don’t mix. I released one hand and smacked him in the middle of the forehead. “Don’t be a dumbass. You need your hands.”
“But you were implying…”
I ignored him for a second, running my thumbs across his palms and fingers, hoping to soothe away the damage he’d created while knowing deep down this was not helping in the slightest. But what the fuck was I supposed to do? I had no medicine or even clean water. It was bad enough I was psychologically poking about in what had to be the worst day of his life. There was no need to goad him into physically hurting himself.
“I was not implying,” I said when the redness seemed to fade. After I released his hands, I lifted my eyes to meet his. “The point I’m trying to make is that you and your brother dueling was public knowledge. Countless people had access to those swords. Anyone could have put poison on the blade. This person could have been trying to kill you, not realizing that you and Orian don’t always use the same blade. Or…” I paused, leaning in close to make sure he was paying attention, “they could have just wanted to kill one of you, not caring which prince died?”
Nylian stumbled away from me, shaking his head as he moved, but I still pressed on.
“What would your father have done if it had been you dead instead of your brother? Would he have exiled Orian? Would the same chaos have run through the Wolfrest court? Would your parents have suffered the same pain and devastation at your sudden death?”
“Stop,” Nylian choked out and walked away from me to stand on the other side of the cell with his back to me.