Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 145704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Based on what the seers have seen”—she meets my gaze—“they barter in lives.”
A sour taste fills my mouth. “Whose?”
“It is difficult to say whose would suffice. Yours. Romeria’s. Both.”
“‘At the tied hands of the Ybarisan daughter of Aoife and the Islorian son of Malachi.’ Can you truly not predict?”
“Perhaps. Would you not sacrifice yourself to bring peace to your lands?”
“A hundred times over. But what you have described does not sound like peace. It sounds very much like war and suffering.” Which we are heading toward, regardless. My gaze drifts toward the tent flap. Beyond it, surrounded by bruised and battered warriors, Romeria sits quietly, none the wiser about how formidable she is. “Could Romeria defeat a fate who is in mortal form?”
“Some say yes, she would be powerful enough. And others say that opening the door will destroy her as the attempt did Farren.”
My heart clenches. “She would be sacrificing herself for Islor, and it may not make a difference in the end.”
Gesine sits silently while I pace around her, my mind desperately searching for the right path forward. Walking into this camp today, counting the remaining legionaries, the sense of defeat was a dark shadow trailing me. Nineteen of them against Atticus and an entire army has no chance of surviving.
But could a key caster change our odds?
Would it not behoove me to find out?
“The more we speak, the more I am certain the door should remain closed. Romeria’s immense power should be used for means beneficial to Islor without the added risk.”
“Beneficial, as in reclaiming your throne.”
“So I can change the course of our future. Yes.” That is what a good king who can make hard decisions would do.
A glimmer of something sparks in Gesine’s eyes. “You will work together, your hands still tied.”
“I suppose so.”
“As you see, there can be more than one path to prophecy.” She pauses. “Though I would be remiss if I did not tell you that the seers have seen the door opened in the age of the casters.”
“Not by my will.” Or the will of anyone else who might try to use the key caster for their own benefit. I harden my resolve. “You are not to tell Romeria of what we have discussed.”
She frowns. “If you are requesting that I deceive her—”
“I’m asking that you not tell her more than she needs to know.” Not until I’ve had a chance to consider what telling her might mean.
“She will have many questions. If she is to trust me and accept my tutelage, I must answer them.”
“Then answer them. But not with speculation like the kind we just walked through. Not yet. It would be distracting for her.”
Gesine considers that a moment. “Such knowledge might divert her from her focus with training, and we need her learning as quickly as possible so she can protect herself.”
“Exactly.” Atticus may not be on our heels right now, but it won’t be long before he’s hunting us—her. “I will enlighten her when it makes sense.” If it makes sense. It means we’re back to keeping secrets from each other, but that has always been the case. “I am willing to lead us to Venhorn for shelter within the caves and because I want to root out the Ybarisans. We will pass Stonekeep on our journey, and you can see for yourself that no tokens are waiting for us. But you will not speak of this to anyone. If the Legion thinks we are following one of Mordain’s schemes, I will lose their loyalty, and that is far more important to me than anything these nymphs could offer. Is that clear?”
Gesine bows her head. “As you wish, Your Highness. Is there anything else?”
I pull back the edge of the tent, effectively breaking the sound barrier Gesine constructed. Noise erupts instantly, with shouts carrying and blades ringing. I seize the flame, intent on laying waste to any enemy, only there doesn’t seem to be one. The legionaries hang back as Abarrane marches toward Romeria and Elisaf, her dagger gripped within her palm, water dripping from her braids.
Clearly, Romeria has done something to irritate the commander. Again.
I sigh. “Yes. Train her well.”
6
Romeria
“He wouldn’t have found Gesine if it weren’t for me.” I yank a plump green berry off the vine Zorya tossed at me on her way past. They may look like grapes, but grapes they are not, their sourness bordering on unbearable.
“Many things would not have happened, if not for you,” Elisaf reminds me, adjusting his position against the tree we’re both using for back support as we watch the camp’s activities.
The Islorian guard who used to pace outside my wallpapered prison, ten steps to the left, ten to the right, hasn’t left my side since Zander’s abrupt dismissal at the tent. Not even when I had to squat behind a bush to relieve myself. I’m not sure whether he’s stuck to my side as my friend, my guardian, or my captor. Was that simple call-out earlier Zander’s order for Elisaf to watch me? He can’t think I’d run, not without Gesine. And if any of these legionaries decided to go against his order and sacrifice their lives and their honor for the greater good of Islor … I’ve seen Elisaf go toe-to-toe with Zander in the sparring square, and he knows his way around a blade, but could he stand long against these hardened warriors?