Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 521(@300wpm)
After my initial excitement about the exquisite fashions of the court, I had to admit to myself that constricting corset vests and high-collared shirts aren’t what I always feel like wearing. I managed to work out a compromise with Reiner, so I now have three distinct sets of outfits. During daytime, I get to wear comfortable shirts and pants with a gothic flair. For evening and event wear he gets to dress me as if I’m his personal fashion puppet, and then there’s loungewear—a concept I had to introduce him to—soft, comfy fabrics and not too many buttons for when I’m out of my nightshirt but staying in my rooms.
Kyran appreciates them all. In fact, he rather enjoys the ease with which he can remove a dressing gown or pull up a nightshirt and have me undressed yet, somehow, still clothed.
I lead the way along the rows of shelves, and Sabine smiles up at me as soon as she spots us. Her lips are painted black today, and her golden eyes shine like two coins.
“Magnus, you’ve got to meet the future Dark—”
“I’m her older brother, Prince Tristan Bloodweed,” Tristan says, stepping in front of me to capture the entirety of the visitor’s attention. He takes the man’s elegant hand and bows to give it the gentlest peck before getting to his toes, because Magnus is taller than him.
Sabine fills her lungs with air, but whatever she wants to say ends up stuck in her throat as she rests one of her hands on her protruding belly. Her deep sigh tells me everything. She’s going to let her brother flirt.
Magnus seems a little confused and tries to glance my way, but his expression changes when the floor under our feet shakes with a violent tremor. It lasts longer than ever before, and I have to grab the desk. Fortunately, Sabine can do the same, but as the shaking doesn’t stop, the inevitable happens. Books start falling off nearby shelves as if catapulted our way.
I put my arm over my head, holding Flap close to my chest, but as a massive tome is about to smack me in the face, a dark shadow emerges out of Tristan’s back, fast as a whip. I don’t yet comprehend what’s going on, but the solid darkness becomes a wall between all of us and the books.
Only when the trembling subsides I manage to inhale and assess what I’m seeing.
Wings. Massive black wings reminiscent of a bat’s (or a demon’s) have sprouted out of Tristan’s back. By now, I have seen enough to recognize them as a product of shadowcraft rather than physical parts of Tristan’s body. He winks when he catches me staring, all self-satisfied. He knows that's an impressive wingspan.
Magnus’s lips are parted, and he reaches out to touch them. “That’s… magnificent. And those are also made of shadow?”
“Yes, they are,” Tristan says, sheltering us all with his creation. “I can show you what else they can do if you meet me at moondown.”
That’s when Kyranis and I start our evenings together, freeing Tristan to do his thing… which today might involve getting a thank-you-for-saving-me blowjob.
Magnus’s dark skin doesn’t flush, but he lowers his gaze, frazzled by the attention, as if he isn’t drop-dead gorgeous himself.
I swear I am yet to meet an elf who doesn’t look like a snack in one way or another. Even Sylvan, who Tristan mocks for his height, has the appearance of a cherubic twink, big blue eyes and flushed cheeks included. Though I don’t trust the angelic exterior one bit as he is most likely as prone to backstabbing as his pretty (and dead) sister.
“Oh… well, I suppose I could come.”
Sabine rolls her eyes and sits on a bench to wait out the remaining shocks. “You chose an interesting time to visit the Nocturne Court. Heartbreak might emerge at any moment.”
Magnus smiles, as if she didn’t just tell him about a beast whose proximity can make people’s hearts stop out of sheer terror. “Oh yes, that’s what I’m here to study. The tremors are a signal of impending approach, aren’t they? Do you think it will be possible to observe it from the towers? I heard it’s filled with the blackened hearts of those it devoured.”
Thinking about it makes me a bit ill, because as far as I know Heartbreak looks like his spawn, the despairs, but on steroids. I wouldn’t travel to see a mountain of elf and human parts encased in body juice jelly if you paid me.
Tristan nods as his wings close behind his back. He’s probably keeping them visible to impress Magnus. “I can show you where the book section on Heartbreak is,” he says and ushers Magnus his way with a gesture.
And there I was, thinking Tristan doesn’t read.
He likely knows the elven realm’s equivalent of the Kama Sutra by heart.