Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
He shoves the maps out of his way and crosses the room to me, eyes roaming up and down, up and down. “You didn’t have these scars in the dungeons.”
The heat in my core dissipates. He’s not studying me. He’s staring at the scars on my arms and belly. That isn’t desire in his eyes but anger.
Dumb little girl.
He takes my wrist in one rough hand and turns my palm up, sweeping his thumb over the gnarled circular knot of tissue on my forearm.
Despite myself, I shiver at his touch.
“Who did this?” he growls. “Is this from what Queen Arya did when she was trying to reunite the courts?”
“No.” I meet his gaze but can’t bring myself to say his name.
“Her sister would’ve healed any wounds left by Queen Arya,” Natan says for me, scanning the scars. “These are something else.”
Kendrick just stares, jaw hard.
“What’s going on, Kendrick?” Skylar asks. “The sight of a little skin making you lose your words?”
I tear my gaze from Kendrick’s to look at Skylar and catch something unexpected on her face. Is that jealousy or . . . hurt?
When I look back to Kendrick, he’s returned his attention to my wrist again. “Mordeus,” he says. I don’t know how he guessed when no one else did and when it makes no sense, but his tone is lethal. “He did this.” His eyes track across the scars on my stomach. “All of it.”
“He and his guards.”
“You never had wounds.”
“Never had scars either, until recently.” I shrug, as if it doesn’t matter, as if I don’t hate that these ridges in my skin make him see me differently. “He always made sure to heal me after.”
Remme mutters a curse.
“Natan,” Kendrick says.
Natan’s glasses slip down his nose as he nods. “I’m on it.”
Kendrick carefully lowers my hand to my side, as if I’m something breakable he doesn’t want to play with anymore. When he steps back, his face is twisted into an expression I don’t recognize. He turns and storms outside, letting the door swing shut behind him.
Remme moves to follow him, but Natan puts a hand on his arm. “I’ll go.”
Skylar frowns at the door before turning to me. “You should tie your hair up,” she says, as if none of that just happened. “It would be the perfect finishing touch.”
“Then you could see the short parts in the back.”
Her turned-up palms seem to say and? “I’ll undercut it all evenly so it looks intentional. You’ll look badass.”
“Why did you take my hair?” I ask. “Did Felicity need it for some reason?”
“I needed it for my witch’s brew,” she says. “It calls for a handful of the hairs from a spoiled princess’s head.”
I shoot her a glare but don’t bother pressing the issue. When goblins work for hair and nails, we all gather what we can for future payments.
She has me sit in one of the chairs by the fire and gets to work. After pulling all the hair on the crown of my head into a high ponytail, she trims the back and sides close to my scalp. I cringe with every snip of the scissors, but at least I can hide it when I wear my hair down. It’s not like it wasn’t a mess before from the chunks I’ve cut off for Gommid.
“We leave in ten minutes,” Kendrick says when he and Natan push back into the cottage. “She needs to be glamoured before we go.”
Natan hands me a small glass vial of light yellow liquid. “Drink this. It will make you appear fae and give you tattoos like Skylar described.”
I bring it to my lips slowly but stop when Natan holds up a hand.
“You’ll want to do it quickly. This isn’t a treat.”
“She’s scared,” Skylar says.
I know she’s baiting me, but still I meet her eyes as I throw back the liquid. It falls in a glob onto my tongue. I swallow before I can let myself think about how repulsive the taste and texture are. By the time I gag, the potion’s already hit my stomach.
“Easy,” Remme says. “Breathe through your nose. You don’t have to keep it down long, but you do have to keep it down until—”
“There it is.” Natan smiles at me, then points to the bathing room. “Take a look.”
When I see myself in the mirror, my breath catches.
The first thing I notice is what Skylar did to my hair. I kind of like it. This isn’t the style of a timid little princess. It is badass. And I look nothing like myself. Not only am I wearing Skylar’s ridiculously revealing outfit, Natan’s potion covered my skin with tattoos and hid the appearance of my scars. It also gave me the inhuman glow and strangely pointed ears of the elven fae.
A shudder skitters up my spine. This is who I’d be if I hadn’t traded it away for the ring. This is what lurks in my veins.