Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 125179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Glancing at the sea of faces around her, Wynter saw that Cain wasn’t the only one.
“The opinion of myself and the other Ancients is simple: Adam fears coming here,” Cain continued. “He fears facing us and all of you. If the last ruling Aeon falls, the place and its inhabitants will be vulnerable. And so he concocted a plan that would weaken us. That plan? To remove the most powerful Ancient from the equation by placing him in a position where he must give himself up for the safety of his people.”
Anabel leaned into Wynter. “So he’s really the most powerful?” she whispered.
Wynter only nodded.
“Here’s the thing,” began Cain, “it would not save you if I did. Adam would still come—he would never overlook what happened to his own people here. Never. And if I’m not at Devil’s Cradle when he does come, you will be down one Ancient. We all know that one Ancient can make all the difference.”
Wynter watched as people digested that. It was clear that not all of them had looked at the situation that way before.
“As such, it isn’t an option for me to surrender myself to the Aeons,” Cain went on. “It would only make Adam come here that much sooner. To leave would be for me to neglect the promise I made to the people in my service—that being the promise to keep them safe.”
Ah, it was clever of Cain to put it that way. No one would expect him to hand himself over now.
“I made another vow,” Cain added. “The vow to never hand people over to any outsiders who may come for them. As such, to give Wynter to Adam would be a betrayal on my part. And I think you can all understand why I would never surrender her to him in any case. To address the question I’m sure most of you have, yes, she did curse the land of Aeon.”
Wynter tried not to tense as people glanced her way. She’d agreed for Cain to give the residents more information on what happened back then, but she didn’t much like that her private business would be aired this way. Fuck you, Adam.
“She was unfairly exiled, as was her mother many years before,” said Cain. “Except, in truth, Aeons don’t exile you. They have one of their keepers toss you over the falls. Wynter didn’t learn that until a keeper tried to do that same thing to her. She escaped, cursed the land to avenge herself and her deceased mother, and then left. I doubt anyone here would blame her for that.”
Maybe they wouldn’t, but they were clearly weirded out that she’d been able to infect the place with a blight that couldn’t be combatted—it was written all over their faces.
“Adam is well aware that I won’t surrender either myself or Wynter to him,” Cain added. “That isn’t a losing situation for him, though, as he believes people will subsequently turn on me and choose to leave Devil’s Cradle. A lesser population means a lesser army—one that’s far easier for him and his own troops to take down.
“Some of you may in fact decide to leave, particularly when he starts using his ability to manipulate the natural elements to punish the town. That is your choice. An understandable choice. Adam has done his best to scare and confuse you. I don’t doubt that that has worked on some. Playing mind games has always been a forte of his, after all.”
Wynter felt her lips twitch at the use of reverse psychology. It certainly worked on many of the crowd. Eyes narrowed. Chins lifted. Backs straightened. They clearly weren’t happy that Adam believed he could play them.
“Those who wish to stay will naturally wonder what the other Ancients and I now plan to do about Adam.” Cain paused. “Twice now Aeons have invaded our town and tried to destroy it. We intend to return that favor. We intend to strike before Adam has the chance to step even a single foot in our direction. We will make our move sometime soon and rid ourselves of this last threat to our home.”
Satisfaction began to gather in the air. People nodded or smiled, clearly up for getting some payback against the Aeons.
Cain swept his gaze over the crowds, very briefly settling it on Wynter. “There may be some of you who are tempted to act on Adam’s offer and cash in on the bounties. I don’t think I need to tell you how ridiculously stupid that would be.” Menace thickened his voice. “Not simply because neither I nor my consort are easy targets, but because there would be no reward. Adam would do no favors for any of you. He would only view you as part of the army that led to his son’s death.