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)
I take a deep breath. This is what Niall wanted of me, but he wanted a china doll whose face could grace banners, who would be protected. That isn’t who Bronwyn Finn is anymore. Goddess, I’m not Bronwyn Finn. I’m Bronwyn McIver.
A small crowd gathers, lending aid to Litha and her husband. I hear them talking about me. Calling me princess and wishing me luck. Promising to follow me.
“Do not worry,” Litha says to the crowd. “Our princess will save us as she has saved me. Gather what weapons you have. We will follow Princess Bronwyn and her shanimal!”
Kaja growls before changing.
I get the message. It’s time to join this fight for real.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Shim
I pound on the door, cursing the fucking sunlight that’s keeping me inside.
What in all the planes happened? I feel stronger than I can ever remember feeling, and yet something as completely and utterly harmless as beams of light are keeping me out of the fight.
And damn it all, I really want to fight.
“Where did Gilly go?” Duffy asks, his small body struggling under the weight of that sword.
“Upstairs, though if she’s become like her charge, she’s probably tied the sheets together and run.” None of the women in my life seem to want to allow me to protect them. And I can’t blame them since I’m stuck in this damn house.
There’s a loud boom, the sound of a sonic weapon being discharged.
I can feel my brother’s adrenaline. It pumps through my own veins.
“They’re fighting. I thought they were doing a recon.” Duffy rushes to the door and out into the street. “Can’t see anything.”
Of course he can’t. Duffy is barely four feet tall. I’m six and a half, but I can’t see a damn thing since I’m blinded by sunlight now.
Gillian hurries down the stairs, holding her skirt in one hand. She rushes into the room and toward a small closet.
“You told Roan you would stay here.” The thought of my sister out in the battle while I’m stuck here rankles.
Gillian looks up, her dark eyes narrow. “I’ll lie to Roan all I like. As it happens, I think I’m likely best served here.” Her arm disappears into the closet and when she pulls it back, Gillian is holding a bow and quiver of arrows. “Reymon likes to hunt. He’s quite good, and he’s been teaching both me and Bron. The upstairs window has an excellent view. If anyone tries to sneak up the back street, I can take them out.” She stops in front of me. “Don’t worry about it, Shim. You’re half vampire. It’s inevitable you would have some of their weaknesses along with all that strength. I can fight. I’m expendable. I’m not even a true heir.”
Gillian is a bastard by all the rules of our society. She can’t inherit since her mother wasn’t married to King Fergus and died in childbirth. But my mother didn’t see things that way. When she married Fergus, she insisted Gillian be addressed the same way her own children were.
“Our mother loved you.”
Tears fill her eyes, and she looks over at Duffy as she nods. “Queen Constance had a heart big enough for everyone. The Unseelie were blessed with her reign. Do you know how many queens would have thrown me out? How many queens would have taken in Duffy?”
Not many, but then my mother was an extraordinary woman. “It didn’t matter you weren’t her blood.”
“And it doesn’t matter that Bron isn’t mine. I know what I said. I meant it. You needed to make sure your claim to Bron was unassailable, but I love that child. Child. She’s a woman, but she’s also my daughter. Not by blood or birth but by sacrifice. I seek to honor my true mother, Queen Constance, in all ways, and she would never have sat idly by while others suffered. When I spoke of taking over Tír na nÓg, it is because I love these people. I would defend them with my life. Please tell Bron that. Please don’t let her hate me.”
“No one can hate you, Gilly.” Duffy looks awkward standing there, looking up at the woman none of us saw for thirteen years. I remember how Duffy would blush every time the princess would say hello to him.
Gillian gets to one knee, placing her at eye level with the gnome. “Thank you, sweet Duffy. I did not say it earlier, but it is so good to see you again.”
Duffy’s face flushes and his eyes turn down. “It is good to be able to place me eyes on you once more, Your Highness.”
Gillian laughs. “None of that, brother.” She stands, the bow in her hand. “I will watch our backs. Duffy, please shout up if anyone is coming for the front of the store.” She winks down at the gnome and flees up the stairs.