Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
There were some who even said gods rose from that nonsense, which was ridiculous, but many people believed it.
Considering the visit he’d had from his son and his son’s…people, Hans was not terribly surprised when he received a message with the royal seal.
But his system seemed to stop as he read it, as written, not by some aide or the King’s Counsellor.
By the hand of the bloody king.
Hans Swensson ~
It is my sad duty to inform you that your son, Tedrey Swensson, was lost in the Battle of the Beasts.
Tedrey’s sacrifice was bold and courageous. He saved a number of lives in his time on this earth, including one that day.
His actions were instrumental to the end of that grave, arduous battle, and without them, it is unknown if The Rising that occurred would have graced our company.
As such, I send this missive not only to share the sorrowful news that your son, understood by all who knew him as honorable and brave, is lost. But also to share that, due to his selfless act that terrible day, there will be a memorial erected in his honor~Tedrey Swensson, Our Brother Golden Hair~in the capital of his native land, Wodell, as well as one in the capital of his adopted land, Fire City in Firenze.
I would request that, when these memorials are unveiled, you would not attend either ceremony.
Yours,
~True
King of Wodell
I would request that, when these memorials are unveiled, you would not attend either ceremony.
Hans read those words again and again.
As well as the words, understood by all who knew him as honorable and brave.
And the ones, Tedrey Swensson, was lost in the Battle of the Beasts.
Only after all of these words were imprinted on his brain did he drop the hand holding the parchment and look out the window to his fields.
His boy worked those fields with him. He did not complain. He got up early, he worked hard, he fell in bed tired.
He did not complain when his mother left them.
He did not complain when Hans beat him and sent him away.
Hans’s seed had made a solid man who became a hero.
And none of that glory was Hans’s.
On this thought, he wept.
Not for glory he could not claim.
For the loss of a son he would never know.
Queen Elena
Royal Palace
THE ENCHANTMENTS
“Aelia!” Cassius boomed.
My head come up from reading the letter from Farah and I looked out the window to where my husband was standing on the balcony.
“Aelia, I swear to the gods, if you’re astride a horse, you’ll find it difficult to sit on anything!” he shouted.
I pressed my lips together to stop myself from laughing.
“Dora, is she on a horse?” he suddenly asked, and I saw him looking down to the ground at, obviously, our eldest girl.
“No, Cass,” she answered.
“Are you lying to me?” Cass pushed.
I pressed my lips together harder.
Dora didn’t answer at first.
This meant yes, she was lying.
“Theodora,” Cassius growled.
Oh dear.
Her full name.
“All right!” she exploded. “It wasn’t my idea. It was Aelia’s!”
When I noted Cassius made to move, Dora went on speaking quickly.
“But she’s fine, Cassius. Promise! She’s with Mac and Hera!”
For a moment, Cassius didn’t speak.
And when he did, his words were lethally measured.
“If you will, go tell my bloody captain, and Ellie’s bloody captain, that I wish to see them. Immediately.”
“All right, Cass,” Dora agreed.
I envisioned her racing off.
My husband prowled into the room.
“I was riding at six,” I, possibly foolishly, informed him.
“We’re not having another child,” he declared.
I blinked up at him.
“I survived an attack on a palace,” he went on. “I survived a bombardment of arrows in a bloody temple, for fuck’s sake. I survived the Battle of the Heights. The Battle of the Veil. The Battle of the bloody fucking Beasts. And my daughters are going to kill me.”
It was actually beginning to hurt, holding back the laughter.
When I managed to do that, I said, “You know Mac and Hera will not allow anything to happen to her.”
“She’s too young,” he gritted.
“She’s smart, she’s sure of her limbs, she loves animals so she can read one, and again, Mac and Hera would never allow anything to happen to her.”
“I told her she could learn to ride in a couple of years, Ellie,” he bit out.
“Yes, and she should have to endure your anger and disappointment that she disobeyed you,” I said softly. “But Cass, you cannot protect us all, in all ways, in everything against everything.”
“Yes, I can, for I must, it is why I’m breathing,” he retorted.
Which, in turn, made me stop breathing.
“Though, I understand your point,” he muttered.
“Good,” I forced out.
With that, Domitia stormed in, doing this walking backwards.
And shouting.
“It’s only a little magic, Ian!”
“You do not practice alone. You practice with your mentor,” he growled in return, following her in. “Melisse was nowhere near you when you nearly singed your eyebrows off.”