Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
That was what Attes had suggested. Take the bones from the Courts.
“You do know that we cannot just kill the Primals who refuse to join us,” he said quietly.
“I know.” I tipped my head back against the cool wall. “I could Ascend a member of their Court just in case. We already have Aios if Maia remains loyal to Kolis. I could Ascend either Theon or Lailah to replace Kyn. We also have Saion and Rhahar.”
“Rhahar will not want to rule the Triton Isles,” he said.
My gaze flicked to him. “Then we will ask Saion.”
He nodded. “That leaves us with Veses’ Court.”
“Rhain won’t take her Court.” I pushed away from the wall. “And there truly isn’t a single god there we can trust?”
“I do not believe so.”
I made my way back to him, my chest heavy. “Does that mean we have to…?” I stopped searching for a less harsh word. I couldn’t pretty up the eradication of an entire Court. My chin lifted. “Does that mean we have to kill every god there?”
“The ones old enough to become an issue.” His jaw ticked. “Yes.”
Shaking my head, I glanced up at the ceiling. There had to be another way. Not trusting any of the gods to rule as a Primal didn’t mean they were incapable of changing. “There will be an impact on the mortal realm if we do that. With no Primal of Rites and Prosperity, we’d plunge all the kingdoms into ruin.”
“We would.”
I stopped in front of Ash, wanting to be close to him. There was no reason for me not to be. Ash knew nearly everything now, and he’d held me close as I slept. And as I got ready this morning, he hadn’t tried to hide his hungry stare when I undressed. Nothing had changed—well, that wasn’t entirely true. Everything had changed, but not in a bad way. It was almost like there was a new type of understanding between us. That didn’t mean I ever wanted to talk about what Kolis had done to me again, but I knew I could if I needed to. I nudged Ash’s leg with my knee.
He looked up at me and turned his body to the side. “You sure?”
I didn’t even have to say anything, and he knew. That was one of the many reasons I loved him so much. I offered him my hand.
He took it at once, folding his much larger hand around mine, and tugged me down so I sat in his lap. There was a moment when my mind wanted to go someplace else, but I nestled against Ash’s chest instead when he wrapped an arm around me.
“This helps you think better?” he asked.
“Mm-hmm,” I murmured, wiggling until I could rest my head under his chin. “It’s another of your hidden talents.”
He chuckled, burying a hand in my hair. “One even hidden to me.”
I smiled. “Do you remember during the last meeting when we talked about how the true Primal of Life could take on a Court?”
He kissed the top of my head. “Yes.”
“What if I take the Callasta Isles?” I said. “I know it’s never been done before, but that has to be better than what feels like genocide that leaves no one but orphans behind—children who will then grow up, likely hating us for slaughtering their parents without really giving them a chance to be able to change.”
“Giving them a chance can leave us vulnerable to rebellion and attacks,” he said, finding a curl.
I thought about that. “I’d rather deal with that than proceed as if it’s a foregone conclusion.”
“I would prefer that also,” he said, wrapping the strand around his finger. “As long as we know we cannot continue to tolerate attacks.”
“Yeah, I know.” Sunlight crept over the interior walls. “But maybe there will be a god we can trust to rise at some point.”
“One can hope,” he said warily.
I trailed my fingers down his forearm, tracing the tendons and bone. “We need to remove as many of Kolis’s allies as we can before going after him. Once that’s done, we’ll have to…what did Attes say? Be the ones to act and not the ones to react?”
“Yes.” He straightened the curl out. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking there is no way there won’t be a clash of armies, no matter what we do. I can only hope that Ez—” I sucked in a reedy breath as Ash’s arm tightened around me. I pushed through the burn of grief. “I can only hope Ezra was able to warn the other kingdoms to prepare or that they will after what happened in Lasania and Terra.”
Ash’s arm tightened even more, and that also made it hard to push through the burn. I cleared my throat. “It’s not like Kolis won’t know what we’re up to.”
Ash let the curl bounce into its normal shape. “He will strike back quickly.”