Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132138 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 661(@200wpm)___ 529(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
My brothers won’t know. They’ll always think I died at the palace. They won’t know I was burned at the maypole—the stake.
Half an hour passes, the minutes ticking by like molasses dripping off a spoon toward a well-cooked piece of bread. I drink more water. Eat the last of the bread. Slow. So slow. I’m able to go over most of my life. I’m shocked to realize how much of it I spent in dreams. When I look back on my life, I see the times Cian played with me and my mother rocked me, stroking my hair during thunderstorms. I remember holding Da’s hand as we walked through the streets of the village. But mostly I see Shim and Lach. I see them as children, laughing and playing through fields of golden wheat and swimming on a pebbled beach, the ocean water foaming around them. There were mermaids in the waters, but we didn’t worry about it because mermaids only called to the unfaithful and the unwary. We played and played, telling secrets and stories. Stories I heard but could barely remember the next day. When I began to gain my womanhood, the dreams changed. My Dark Ones started to touch me. Little glancing strokes at first and then a kiss here and there. My cheeks and my forehead and sweetly enough, my nose. Finally they pressed a mouth to mine. A tongue caressed and then…
Death.
So long was the darkness. The aloneness. It was worse because for so long I was with them. And then the connection was cut as though it never existed.
Years passed. I ran and ran. So many provinces. So many new faces.
I was scared, reaching out every night for that connection I counted on all my life. Nothing, until one night, a tendril reached back, like a light in the darkness. I reached for it and finally I saw them. They weren’t solid at first, but I felt a touch, a caress that made my skin light up.
Six years passed in loneliness and then another three in a frustrating reaching. I would grasp and then the dream would be gone, like a ghost that never really existed. Every morning I awoke aware that I didn’t get what I wanted and then…
That kiss.
My whole life—the happy part—plays out in a long dream.
I gave up everything for a damn dream.
There’s a scratch at my door.
“They’re coming.”
Niall’s voice.
“What should I do?” I kneel before the door. It’s time to make my play, but I feel so tired. My hands shake slightly. The world is a bit fuzzy. Am I starting to panic?
“I don’t know.” The words are hesitant. “They’re coming early. It was supposed to happen at noon. It’s only ten.”
Micha is running early. He probably thinks that if he can get rid of me, Gillian will stop her assault. He’ll burn me before the township is up and able to protest that I didn’t get a fair trial. I didn’t even see the town magistrate.
I made a terrible mistake. Micha upped the timeline because now he doesn’t want me talking. Goddess, I’m terrible at this. Horrible. I don’t know what to do except to try. I won’t be walked to my execution calmly. Dignity isn’t going to help me. Besides, no one is gathered. No one will bear witness. And no one will help me.
They all turned their backs.
I’ll fight until the flames take me.
“They’re coming, Your Highness. Please don’t call attention. I have a plan. Someone has run to tell Gillian.” Niall’s voice is thin through the cracks of the door, and then the only sound I hear is the hard thud of boots against the floor.
The door slams open, and I’m faced with two of the largest guards in the village. They’re each a foot taller and have a hundred pounds on me, but they’re armed to the teeth, as though I’m the most dangerous criminal on the plane. They each hold a sword and carry knives on their belts.
I know how to use a knife. I can certainly get one of them, but can I get both?
Niall begged me not to draw attention. There’s some plan in place.
Your Highness. Goddess, Niall called me “Your Highness.”
“Isolde, are you going to come quietly or should we cut out that pretty tongue of yours right here?” Arik, the older of the two guards, asks.
“I think we should have a bit of fun with her before she goes out. Seems a shame to leave this life without ever knowing the touch of a man.” Tir leers at me.
Arik holds out a hand. “Don’t touch that one. You weren’t here yesterday. It’s best that one goes out in the flames. Come on, wench. Time to go.”
I take a deep breath and make my decision. I’ll give Niall some time. He knows something. Gillian brought him in on the secret, and that means Gillian trusts him. I nod to my captors and smooth out my dress before stepping forward to follow them.