Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Tomas turned that information over in his mind, pondering it, wondering what it meant. Luiz and Solange and Sarika. What of Jubal?
Jubal was always a question mark in Tomas’ mind. He wasn’t Carpathian, yet he knew every aspect of Carpathian life. He knew the language. He knew the prince. He fought alongside the Carpathians against any and all enemies. He was fiercely jaguar, protecting Jasmine and Sandrine. He knew the ways of the jaguar people, yet he had come into his own quite late. His mother had tried to murder him because he was a jaguar male. And he was human. He’d grown up in that world and was equally at ease there as he was anywhere. Tomas liked him. How could he not? He respected him and knew Jubal was the kind of man to always have his back in a fight.
Jubal keeps his own counsel, Luiz said.
Can you read him? Tomas asked, suddenly curious. Jubal seemed to have some kind of built-in protection that prevented even an in-depth scan from reading him. Tomas had no doubt he could push past the shields, but it wouldn’t be easy and might cause harm if Jubal fought it.
The prince himself aided Jubal in protecting himself.
Tomas and his brothers traveled the world. Luiz mostly stayed in the rainforest, away from others. How did he get the information he always seemed to have?
I have several brothers. They never mind their own business. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when they come around asking what appear to be innocent questions but aren’t.
Tomas found it interesting that Sarika was correct in that Luiz had a sense of humor; he just didn’t acknowledge it. That had to be the way of the Carpathian ancients. He had noticed when his brothers weren’t sharing Sarika’s emotions, they had a touch of humor in them, but it was suppressed and deep. Hidden from them.
The brothers had spent a great deal of time deliberately ensuring they would remember as much as possible. They explored the idea of color, trying to reach back into their memories to find various colors and what they appeared to be like.
Having had colors restored to him, Tomas could testify that they’d had it all wrong. The dull, lifeless grayish colors they had tried to remember were nothing like the real thing. Especially in the rainforest. He had spent most of his life in various jungles, and never once did he notice the vibrant shades of green, so many, some subtle, some vivid, but all in amazing shades.
Then there was simply the bark on the trees. Every color of brown, black and ash mixed with rich caramels and soft tans. Who knew there were so many shades of color that made up the trunks of trees? And that was without even counting the flowers winding their way up the trunks, or the tree frogs, lizards and snakes. That didn’t even count the birds with their brilliant colors. Sarika had given that to him. He was able to share it with his brothers. Real, bold, larger-than-life colors.
He didn’t want to admit that he often had to mute the colors because they were too much for him after centuries without, but there were moments he would just stare in awe, taking the jungle in for its unrivaled beauty.
The sounds of the night were soothing to him. Music played through the trees brought by the slight breeze that was always in the canopy but often didn’t reach the forest floor. Bats dipped and wheeled, performing an aerial ballet while catching insects. Fruit bats swooped down on the night-blooming dragon fruit, epiphytic cacti, plants that used other structures for support rather than growing in the soil. The bats loved the fruit and descended on the plant in record numbers when the fruit was ripe.
He wanted Sarika to feel the magic of the night, view it the way he did. He wanted her to see the beauty that was there and feel peace and serenity in the familiar sounds and colors of the night. If she could view that time as he did, she wouldn’t miss the day so much.
Tomas watched as she sighed and leaned over the rail to look down at what appeared to be steps of fungus leading up to the tree house. She rubbed at her temples, and he immediately caught the beginnings of the nagging headache that wouldn’t quite leave her alone. He could go to her and take it away, but he sensed she wasn’t quite ready to talk to him about the very important things they needed to discuss.
He had never thought much about the human ritual of bathing. Of soaking in a hot tub. As a Carpathian, there was never a need for it. But if there was one thing he knew for certain Sarika enjoyed, it was her bath. She took one every night. He was pretty sure she often took one in the morning as well. The more he considered taking part in her ritual, the more he liked the idea of it.