Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
“It’s only right, son,” my father is saying as he puts an arm around my shoulder. “She’s your consort. I can’t wait to welcome her into our family. The housekeeper said something was wrong with her.”
“She lost a lot of blood.”
“She’s hurt? What happened to her?”
“I did,” I reply. There’s on odd mixture of guilt and pride that comes with the memory, as though the two pieces of my soul are at odds over the incident. “I was the one who was injured. Kaja healed me.”
My father’s arm drops. “Why? What the hell happened? Did you get in a fight? Was it a tourney?”
I hold my hands up, waving off the worry. If I don’t stop my father, there will be doctors all over the place. “I’m fine. Kaja’s fine. We got attacked in the marketplace, that’s all. Torin is finally making his move. I guess the asshole realized Beck and Ci aren’t going to conveniently die.”
Dad’s gone a little pale. “Torin attacked the marketplace?”
“He sent mercenaries to attack the Refugee plane, as far as I can tell. Some asshole impoverished royals have formed their own army, and they are all about letting trade flow.”
There’s a tight set to my father’s eyes that tells me he doesn’t like this subject. “They want consorts. It’s all the government can talk about these days. There are so few to be had. There’s an entire generation of royals who can’t find consorts. They’re aging, and they don’t like it. You have to understand, Dante. A royal is brought up to believe that finding a consort is his or her right. We live longer with a consort. Without a consort, we might as well be peasants.”
It's a hard truth to swallow, but I know my father is only laying it on the line. “Now that Beck and Cian have come into their powers, maybe things can change.”
The look on my dad’s face is grim. “I don’t know. I think it might be too late.”
I don’t like the sound of that. I turn and look my father straight in the eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that when your cousins come to visit next week, I’m going to try to convince them to run.”
“What are you talking about?” I don’t even understand the words coming out of his mouth. “Where the hell would they go? Torin decimated their village.” It had been a terrible thing. Beck and Cian had built the village up over the years, and it had taken a single afternoon and some well-placed sonic charges to bring it all down. He’d mourned with his cousins the loss of their home.
“I think it’s time they went to the Earth plane, son,” my father admits.
The words hit like a grenade threatening to explode. “Why the hell would they go to some backwater plane that isn’t connected to anywhere else?”
There are a few doors to the Earth plane scattered around, but they’re very difficult to access, and few brave them. The Earth plane is almost entirely cut off. In my mind, if my cousins flee to the Earth plane, it’s an admission of defeat.
“Because the tide is turning,” Dad says with deep resignation. “If our government decides to recognize Torin’s claim to the throne, they have to acknowledge that Beckett and Cian are renegades. Those mercenaries who are after them now, they’ll be joined by every soldier on every plane who hears the news.”
My stomach turns. How is this happening? “Beck and Ci won’t go.”
They’ll stay and fight. They won’t leave their people behind.
My father simply shakes his head and sits down behind his desk. “Let’s talk about something more pleasant. We’ll deal with your cousins’ situation when the time comes. Now, I know you need your bonding time, but the sunscreen project is at a critical state. I want you to get to work. The chemists have the formula down, and we’ll be ready for testing soon.”
I know I should be excited. This is the very reason I got married. I changed my entire life to stay on this one project. Now all I can think of is how to keep my cousins alive.
“Dante?” My father leans forward. “Are you all right?”
No. I’m not all right. I’m changed, and I’m not sure I like it. This is my home, and somehow I feel out of place. It’ll be all right. I went through a lot. I need time and space to forget what happened in the woods. It’s just a little post-traumatic stress disorder.
I will be fine. I will get back to normal.
I want to see Kaja.
“I’m good,” I say, forcing a smile on my face. “A bit tired, though.”
Yeah, almost dying will do that.
Dad gets back up and walks around the desk. He envelopes me in a bear hug. Love for my father rushes over me. I hug him back. Despite our differences, I love the old man.