Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236909 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1185(@200wpm)___ 948(@250wpm)___ 790(@300wpm)
Ezra halted at the top of the short set of steps. “Seraphena?” Her voice was barely a whisper as she glanced beside me. I saw her visibly swallow.
I stepped forward and lowered the hood of my cloak. “Ezra.”
She jerked, her eyes widening.
“Or should I say, Queen Ezmeria?” I added, bowing.
“Don’t you dare do that.” Ezra snapped forward, reaching for me but stopping short. “I’m Ezra. Just Ezra to you.”
A twinge of disappointment rose at the knowledge that she was still uncomfortable touching me, but as I straightened and saw that Nyktos had moved in closer, I realized her reaction might have had more to do with that.
“My gods, I thought the guard had misheard,” she said, glancing at Nyktos with wide brown eyes. “I didn’t think I’d ever…”
“See me again,” I finished, and she nodded. “Because I was supposed to kill this one?” I added, jerking my thumb at Nyktos.
“Nice,” Nyktos remarked dryly under his breath.
Blood drained rapidly from Ezra’s face, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of what I’d said or because Nyktos had lowered his hood.
Ezra clearly hadn’t forgotten what he looked like when she’d seen him last. “I think I need to sit down—” She caught herself before doing so, beginning to kneel. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I—”
“That is unnecessary,” he interrupted. “Please, sit. We do not have long, and I fear you may pass out if you continue standing.”
Ezra blinked slowly. “I have never fainted.”
The Primal smiled, revealing just a hint of fang. “There is always a first time.”
“Please, sit,” I jumped in. “He’s right. We don’t have long, and there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
Ezra sat in the chair. “Is it the supposed-to-kill-him part?”
I choked on a laugh as I sat on the settee next to her chair. Nyktos crossed his arms, remaining standing. “It kind of is,” I said, glancing around the now-empty floor of the Great Hall. My gaze got caught on the statue of Kolis for a brief second. I swallowed. “I’m sure you have many questions.”
“Loads,” she murmured.
“As do I,” I went on. “But as I said, we cannot stay long, so I must get right to it.” I took a shallow breath, remembering what Nyktos had advised could and couldn’t be shared. “What we thought ended the Rot was wrong. The deal my ancestor made didn’t cause the Rot upon my birth.”
Ezra gripped the arm of the chair as she looked between us. “I don’t know much about deals, so please forgive my ignorance on the subject, but the deal expired once fulfilled?”
“Or believed to be ended in favor of the summoner if the Primal is killed,” Nyktos tacked on, his voice deceptively level.
“And that,” Ezra said. “That, too.”
I turned to Nyktos, my eyes narrowed.
His brows lifted. “What?”
“Just so you know, I was never a fan of the deal,” Ezra continued.
“Because it wouldn’t be wise to attempt to kill a Primal?” Nyktos surmised.
“Yes, but mainly because it was unfair to Sera.”
That wasn’t news to me, but it was still good to hear that.
Nyktos said nothing, but he eyed Ezra a tad less intensely than before.
Taking another breath, I faced Ezra again. Her brows were furrowed into thin slashes as she looked between us. “There would’ve been changes when the deal was fulfilled. The climate would return to what it was before, less temperate, as I believe it already has.” That explained the hotter, longer summers full of drought and the vicious storms. “The ground wouldn’t be as fertile as it once was, thanks to the deal, but Lasania would’ve returned to how it was meant to be, which didn’t include the Rot.”
Ezra leaned back, and I could practically see her turning the information over in her head. “Then what is the Rot?” she asked.
“You believe her? That easily?” Nyktos demanded before I could answer. “Didn’t you and your families—her ancestors—believe the deal was the cause of the Rot?”
“I believe her,” Ezra said, her chin lifting.
“Because I am here?”
“Well, your presence may have a little to do with it.”
His head cocked. “A little.”
“Just a bit,” she said. “But I know how important saving Lasania was for Sera. She would not lie about something, knowing what it meant for her kingdom.”
Her kingdom.
I briefly closed my eyes. “Lasania was never mine.”
“That’s not true. You should’ve been Queen, Sera. Not me. If I can acknowledge that, you should be able to.”
Curling my fingers around my knees, I said, “But you are Queen, and that’s what matters now. You’ll be able to handle what I’m about to tell you, unlike my—” I cut myself off, took a moment, then continued. “The Rot was caused by something else entirely. Something much more complicated than a deal.”
Ezra was quiet for a moment. “And whatever it is, you cannot tell me?”
“No,” I said quietly.