Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“For a human, you do have great stamina,” he told me, and I had the urge to run him into the wall on general principle.
“Stop if you want to live!” someone yelled behind me.
“Will you heed?” Cirillo asked me.
It was like he was reporting on my activities in real time, interested in the answer for some article he was writing. It was maddening, as was the fact that running beside me, he wasn’t even winded. Meanwhile, for the second time in two days, I was running as fast as I could, with him basically loping beside me.
“Concede or die!” they yelled at me.
“My consort, they sound earnest.”
I didn’t answer him, just ran, wishing for the hundredth time that I’d remembered to take my cell phone with me. I could have called ahead if I had.
Right before I neared the black marble of my and Varic’s wing, more men came up both sides of the stairs. I had to dodge, and at the last moment, one guy stepped into my way. I squared my shoulders and hit him. Four years of high school football didn’t let me down, and I ran right over him, a foot on his chest as I went.
The second I crossed onto the black marble, I yelled for help. Interestingly, the guys chasing me stopped, not following, which told me precisely who they were—not hired assassins at all, but instead, the king’s guard.
Zev came rushing up to meet me, running with his sword sheath in hand, followed closely by the others, Dae-Jung there as well.
“Hold there in the name of the crown prince or—Cirillo?” Zev sounded confused as the others flanked him and me.
“Oh dear God,” Cirillo gasped, those pale blue eyes of his having gone wide in wonder. “Do you yet live, wolf?”
Zev stepped in front of me and faced Cirillo. “Take no further step toward the prince’s consort, or you will be butchered where you stand,” he warned, his voice going arctic.
“No, no, no,” Cirillo said, hands up in deference to Zev. “I ran with the prince’s consort.”
“Did he?” Zev asked me.
I nodded.
Zev made a tiny motion with his hand, and then I bent over, catching my breath.
“What is going on?” Brenna asked harshly as she reached me.
She was scared, and I totally understood that.
“Perhaps your barrier,” Dae-Jung suggested softly. “More men continue to fill the hall.”
“Yes,” I said and sank to the floor, folding my legs behind me, sitting on my haunches as I concentrated on my breathing.
Zev turned from the people in front of him then and crouched down beside me. “Tell me what’s happened.”
But I was shaking, terrified of what the king’s attack on me meant for him and Varic. I pointed at Cirillo instead.
“Speak,” Zev commanded him.
Cirillo chose that moment to walk around Zev to the other side of me. Normally, Zev and the others would not have allowed anyone that close to me, but I’d vouched for Cirillo, so they considered him a friend, not someone to keep from me.
Cirillo sat down beside me, legs crossed. “Do we not fear the assembly in the hall?”
“Not when the barrier is raised,” Dae-Jung informed him.
“Who are you?”
“I am Dae-Jung. I take care of Jason.”
“Jason?”
“Yes, he who is there next to you. Jason Thorpe.”
I looked at Cirillo, who glanced around at everyone.
“I don’t understand this lack of formality. The Varic I know would never permit such.”
“You know nothing of our prince,” Zev scoffed. “You have not laid eyes on him for over what, four hundred years or longer? He is not at all as you remember.”
“No?”
Zev shook his head. “And speaking of time past, where have you been?”
“Oh,” Cirillo said, forcing a smile. “Well, as you know, the battlefield was overrun, and I was taken captive, and my memory was—”
“No,” Zev stated. “I can’t hear lies. Forget I asked. I don’t care enough to hear some exaggerated tale.”
“I am part of the dene. My house is noble and—”
“Spare us all your drivel,” Zev ordered, watching as two of the men threw themselves against my barrier only to be thrown back hard several feet, slamming into others, causing yelling and cries of pain.
“This is your barrier?” Cirillo asked me, sounding flabbergasted.
“It is,” I said, breathing slowly, in and out, feeling both betrayed and sad down deep in my soul. I thought the king cared for me, but I had been so wrong.
“Were you running from the king’s men?” Dae-Jung asked me.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know they were his men until they didn’t follow me into Varic’s area. I suspected as much, but they’re dressed like ninjas.”
Heavy sigh from Dae-Jung. “What have I told you about that?”
“That there was no such thing as ninjas, no secret assassin cabal, but instead spies. They were called shinobi.”
“That’s correct. I blame Hollywood for this twisting of historical fact.”
He was always explaining things to me, which I actually did appreciate. “They’re all in black, with masks, so you can see why I was thinking they––”