Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
“No, we won’t be able to keep that under wraps,” the queen agreed. “However, perhaps we can do it long enough the appropriate comms can go out so we’ll be at the ready.”
“At the ready?” Gayle asked. “For what?”
The queen turned frighteningly sober eyes to her.
And then she decreed, “My dear, I’m not certain who did it, but someone did. They launched an attack against Nights’ Fall. And now, we are at war.”
Chapter 45
Ingrained
It was a full hour before Set arrived in the king’s study to give us a brief rundown of what they knew.
Two RS agents had been killed, three guests had also been killed, and there were forty more casualties from the battle with the trolls. Of the wounded, seven were so severe, they had to be ambu-lifted to a hospital in the city.
Further casualties numbered twenty-seven. These were guests who had been injured in the stampede to return to the Palace. Luckily, only two of those were severe enough to go to hospital.
And one hundred and twenty-two trolls had been streamed dead in the gardens.
No trolls survived.
After delivering this news, Set opened the door to a phalanx of RS agents, including Fannon and Geleena, explaining we’d be escorted back to our chambers.
Obviously, Fannon and Geleena walked me to Aleksei’s and my suite.
They also requested I stand outside with Geleena as Fannon preceded me and checked the space before they allowed me in. And then they took their places as sentry in the hall.
Apparently, chances were not being taken.
I was down with that.
As I entered the sitting room, I saw all three cats lying side by side on a window seat, tails swinging, attention aimed out the window.
I went to stand behind them.
Fog drones hovered, flooding the entire garden with light. There were a dizzying number of white tents set up, my guess, covering troll carcasses for investigative purposes. And an equally dizzying number of uniformed beings were moving urgently about, investigating the vast scene.
There were also dragons seated on the massive plinths I’d noticed positioned all around the perimeter of the island, but I’d thought those plinths were decorative.
They weren’t.
They were sentry stations.
For dragons.
There were further dragons in sets of five flying in the air.
It seemed all the guests were gone.
Aleksei wasn’t in the suite, I knew, because I couldn’t feel him.
But I didn’t know how much time I had before his return, so I did what something in my heart was telling me to do.
I found my tablet and video commed Nata.
She answered immediately.
“Oh my gods, are you okay?” she asked as greeting.
“I’m fine. Everyone in the family is fine. We’re…it’s a lot. But we’re fine.” Before she could reply, I went on, “Listen, I know it’s late, or really early.”
“That’s okay,” she said swiftly. “I was up. I couldn’t sleep. Everyone is freaking out about what’s happening.”
I didn’t ask her what they were saying, or what she knew, because I wasn’t sure I had time.
“Thanks, but what I have to ask you to do might not be okay.”
She didn’t look even mildly wary. “You can ask me to do anything, Laura.”
Totally picked right with this gal.
“I need you to comm my father and tell him I’m okay.”
Her face shut down.
Yep.
Picked right with her.
“Okay, getting a little personal here,” I began, “I’m not sure where I’m at with him, but I know he’ll be worried. That said, I don’t want to open up a direct line of communication again, because I’m not sure I’m ready for what he might assume from that. You don’t have to get into detail. You don’t even have to video comm him. Just introduce yourself in a text comm and tell him I asked you to share I was fine.”
“I can do that,” she said readily.
“You sure?”
“I’ll be your go between, Laura. Especially if it keeps you out of his direct line.”
She was so great.
“Thank you,” I said effusively.
“No problem. Try to get some sleep,” she replied.
I was exhausted.
But…
No way that would happen. Not until Aleksei was doing it at my side.
“Will do. See you.”
“Yeah, see you.”
We disconnected, and I wedged myself in next to my curious cats who were fascinated by the show outside.
I then did what I had to do next.
I returned to my pane search to pull up that article on Aerin and Iphelia.
I’d searched the True Heir with a vulnerable True Bride. There had to be something in it, especially after what Calisa said, and the new knowledge I had that night my beast was of a warrior caste, and Iphelia had been the same.
She wasn’t an outlier. Throughout history, there had always been female warriors of every race and breed, and there were several elite squads made entirely of females that were famous for their heroic deeds.
I just didn’t know, until that night, I was one of them.