Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 121153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“What now?” Harmony said softly, eagerly.
“Hold on,” I said, shifting my hands to find purchase on the stone brick. It was only small and narrow, but if I could remove it from its place . . . I would see her some. Even if it was just a little, I would see her in the flesh.
Just as I was about to move the brick, a sudden fear hit me. I would see her. But she would also see me. At least she would see some of my face.
She had seen Judah . . .
My hands fell away from the brick and I closed my eyes, disappointment rushing through my blood. I dragged myself to my feet and staggered to the sanitary part of the cell. Above the old basin was a small cracked mirror. Placing my hands on the edge of the basin to keep steady, I looked up at my reflection. I had avoided it for weeks; I had no need to look at my face. In fact, I had purposely evaded it. When I looked at myself, I always saw my brother. Would forever see Judah glaring back at me.
But now I looked . . .
My brown eyes widened in shock when I saw the state that I was in. My face was blood-spattered and covered with dirt and grime. My beard was long and stuck into clumps. My hair was heavily matted and had gathered in long, scraggly chunks. Even my eyes were bloodshot, the surviving white base tinged with gray —evidence of the endless punishments I had endured.
I barely recognized the man staring back.
Yet I could only feel relief in it. There was little resemblance to the twin that had locked me away out of sight. Judah had gone . . . Hell, Rider had gone. Harmony would not see the mirror image of the pretender prophet. She would see a dirty, beaten man. A prisoner, just like her.
“Rider? Where are you?”
Harmony’s sweet voice came drifting across the cell. I slowly walked back to the wall. My legs tingled as the blood rushed through my starved muscles. Slumping to the floor, I pushed my fingers into the gaps around the brick and pulled on the stone. Dust clouded the air as the old stone began to pull away. The stone suddenly got stuck. I opened my mouth to tell Harmony to push from her side, but the rock moved before I could.
My heart swelled. She had done it without being asked—she wanted to see me too. I pulled on the brick with as much strength as I could muster.
“It is working,” Harmony said as the brick moved, millimeter by millimeter, painstakingly slowly. Finally, after minutes of working the jagged brick out of its home, it was freed into my hands.
I exhaled, breathless with exertion. But my tiredness was soon forgotten as I discarded the brick, hiding it in the darkest corner of the cell. I stared down at the hole in the wall. My heart slammed against my ribs and my pulse raced faster in my neck.
“Rider,” Harmony said breathlessly. “It worked.”
I let my eyes close momentarily. Her sweet soft voice sounded clearer to my ears, no longer muted by the thick wall. Warmth spread along my limbs when she added, “Let me see you. I want to see you.”
Making sure my hair was over more of my face than usual, I gradually lowered my body down to the floor, my chest to the ground, controlling my breathing as pain shot through me. When my body was still, I moved my head to the gap in the wall and peered through.
My entire body froze. Looking back at me were the most beautiful dark-brown eyes I had ever seen. Long black lashes fluttered as Harmony’s gaze clashed with my own. “Harmony,” I said in breathless admiration.
“Rider,” she replied, her voice just as awestruck. She moved her body up further so the rest of her face came into view. I frowned. A veil covered her from the top of her cheekbones down to her neck.
A deep red blush blossomed on the skin that was free from coverage. Harmony lifted her hand and ran it along the light-blue material. “The prophet ordered that I wear it at all times.”
My eyebrows pulled down. “Why?”
“Because I am the only chance left to fulfill the prophecy. He wants me to remain pure before our wedding day.” She touched the veil again. “This veil ensures that I tempt no man into taking my body before our wedding night. It is why I am being kept in this cell. I am to be revealed to the people when the time is called for. Not a moment before.”
Tension filled me, anger burned within me at the hurt in Harmony’s voice. Judah. This was all Judah again. To calm myself down, I focused on Harmony’s eyes. My lips hooked into an unexpected smile when I caught a flash of blond hair escaping from her headdress. “You have blond hair.”