Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 758(@200wpm)___ 607(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
“My mother gave it to you?” He takes it and holds it up to the light, inspecting it.
“It was actually your brother. He was her emissary that night. He did not want to give it to me, but Dev forced his hand,” I reply honestly, not bothering to clarify that it was another Declan Quinn entirely. I’m starting to worry there is something wrong with the king’s brain and he can’t think completely straight. “He thought we should not marry. He thought I should be kept as a mistress and Devinshea should screw as many pretty Fae girls as he could.”
A bitter expression crosses his face as he brings the chain back down. “Yes, that was his argument. My mother’s as well. Zandra was low born, and it wouldn’t do even when it was obvious she was my goddess and my magic was so much stronger when she was with me. I spoke with your Devinshea last night before the temple went insane. It unsettled me.” He holds the chain and looks to Grenelda. “What did she say to you this morning? Anything about me? Did she ask you to help her get away?”
Grenelda’s mouth opens, and her head shakes as though she’s not sure which question to answer first.
Myrddin sighs. “I told you. You have to be specific. Girl, did this one say anything concerning?”
Grenelda nods as though the confusion is gone now. “No, sir.”
“Did she say anything about me?” the king pushes.
“Yes,” Grenelda says.
“Well, what was it?” the king asks with utter impatience.
“She could…she could fall in love…with you.” The words come out haltingly, stumbling over each one.
A perfect performance. I lower my lashes as though the revelation is too emotional for me.
He comes to stand before me. “You could?”
Myrddin actually groans.
I let my eyes meet the king’s. All I can think about in this moment is somewhere beneath me my real husband is held in chains. “It’s what I said, but I understand if you cannot say the same of me because you think I’m a thief.”
“Think? You are a thief. You pretty much introduce yourself as a damn thief,” Myrddin complains. “You are proud of it.”
I shake my head. “I was once, but I have children now. You can’t think I go around stealing things. I left that life behind long ago. I never thought I would have to be anything again but a wife and a mother. Now I have to face a life where we are perpetually at war, with my children in constant danger because my husbands won’t do what they need to do to protect them.”
“Which is why you want a man who would burn the world for you,” the king says, and he holds out the Goddess Chain.
I bend my neck and allow him to return it to me. It settles between my breasts. “I simply want to be safe. I want to know my children are safe.”
“Well, he can’t keep your children safe,” Myrddin replies. “No one can.”
“You doubt me?” The king turns on the wizard, moving to my side. He holds his hand out, a silent request.
One I dare not refuse. I let my hand lay on his, the gesture regal in nature, a king about to lead his queen.
I am not his queen, and I will lead this game.
“I do not, Your Majesty,” I say and look to Myrddin.
The hate on his face is blatant and pure before the courtier is back. He bows toward the king. “Of course you are more than capable of protecting anyone you wish to. But none of this solves the problem we’re facing. Someone has the Goddess Chain, and they are using it to power the temple.”
“Then destroy the temple. I’ll build another one,” the king says. “I’ll build one for me and my goddess.”
“I have explained to you that the temple is necessary to the sithein. To the whole plane,” Myrddin explains. “Even if I could destroy it, it would likely take everything close with it. And by close I mean within sight, and that includes the mountains.”
A long look passes between them, and I know they’re talking about the mountains that called to Shy. My daughter-in-law is on to something, and I have to pray Rhys will allow her to investigate.
Or that she’ll insist.
“Then find a way to cut it off from the rest of the palace,” the king says with obvious frustration. “Look. I appreciate what you’ve done for me thus far. Your teachings have been invaluable, and you will get what you came for. But she is not fully mine yet and cannot be until I have the god’s power for my own. Until then, I cannot go to the mountains with you and unlock what you need. So work on cutting the temple off. Find a way in and desecrate it so its power is dimmed.”