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)
Lach’s face is long, his disappointment obvious. “Come, Shim. I will deal with Roan. You can secure food fit for our princess. And Bronwyn, we will work this out. You no longer have to worry. Your men will take care of you always.”
“You did a wonderful job, love.” Shim kisses my hair. “You stayed alive.”
He winks and follows his brother out the door.
“Duffy!” Lach shouts.
Duffy jumps to his feet. “Kind of hoped they would forget about me. Don’t you worry none, Princess. I’ll be standing guard. I won’t let no one else ogle the royal bosoms.”
The door closes. I’m alone. I can breathe.
What happened? Can I even believe my eyes?
“Hello, Your Highness.”
I start. “I really wish Fae would stop climbing in through my window.”
The small creature with the huge bushy black tail seems to laugh. He has enormous eyes and what look to be sharp teeth. His clawed feet cling to the windowsill. “You will have to excuse me, Your Highness. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about…and to beg a moment of your time on behalf of my family.”
“I don’t know what I could do for your family.” I’m almost certain the creature is a phooka, though I never saw one up close. A phooka can be a dangerous thing, but sometimes they bond to other beings and become incredibly loyal. A bonded phooka will burn down the plane for its “family.”
The phooka’s eyes narrow to slits. “You could do a hell of a lot more than you’re doing now, Your Highness. Has cowardice been good to you?”
The words hurt because I see some truth to them. “Please go away.”
The laugh that huffs from the phooka’s mouth can’t be termed humorous. “No. Not until you learn a thing or two. Tell me something, Your Highness. What gives you any right to wear a crown? Is there anything about you that is meaningful besides the fact that whatever brat you spill from your thighs will have royal blood?”
The creature is pulling at my every nerve. “I have done nothing to deserve your scorn.”
“Oh, yes, you have done nothing, and doing nothing absolutely deserves my scorn. You ran when the palace fell. I can forgive you that. You were a child. But a woman stands before me now. A woman who has done nothing while her people are slaughtered, while innocent bondmates have been taken to Torin’s hags and tortured and turned into weapons to be used against our once allies. You are a woman who has done nothing while her kin have suffered, fought, and died rallying behind her family name. Did you know your cousin Keir died?”
My sweet cos Keir was a few years older than I was, but I know the story. After Torin killed my father, Keir raised an army.
And his army was slaughtered, Keir along with them.
“Other revolts have been started, all under the Finn banner,” the phooka continues. “But Bronwyn Finn hid and plowed her fields and kept her head down. You still have a head. Many of the brave ones don’t.”
“What is your point? If it’s to make me feel bad, then you win.”
The phooka’s yellow eyes seem to glow with righteousness. “My point is that it is past time for you to be a woman. My family has a daughter named Paige. She’s already made a heart bond with a young man named Charles. Charles was taken and sent to the palace because he could bond. Paige has been placated by the fact that the boy’s fathers are promising to free him. If they cannot, then I fear Paige will try herself because my young Paige is more woman than you can ever be. And she will die and that will break my master’s heart forever. I fight for the ones I love, Bronwyn Finn. It is too bad you cannot say the same.”
“You will call me Your Highness and you will keep a civil tongue in your head around me. Is that understood?” If I’m going to do this, I’ll do it right. No one of sane mind will follow a mild-mannered peasant princess, but I remember my father’s arrogance well.
My father. He became a sluagh and left instructions for me. Sir Giles. Niall wants me to go to Sir Giles. Sir Giles is a landholder not too far away.
Who should I trust?
“Now that sounds more like a royal who might be worth something.” The phooka’s mouth curves up in an approximation of a smile. “You know if you stay here, your husbands will cart you back to the Unseelie plane and you’ll spend the rest of your life spitting out their heirs. I’ve spent some time with them. I’ve got no doubt they want you, but they will keep you in the palace, away from anything to tax your lovely brain. You’ll be their sweet wife, coddled and loved and marginalized. Is that what you want? Or do you want more?”