Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Both Steiner and Brynla let out a tired sigh in unison.
“Hey, I don’t want to be there either,” I tell them. “But you know how he gets after a day of hunting. Wants to drink and make sure we all know to worship at his feet.”
“I made it through a dinner filled with barbs from your father, your uncle, and occasionally Vidar,” Brynla says. “I’d rather not be subjected to more if I can help it.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I tell her. “One drink and then I’ll sneak you out at the first opportunity.”
“What about me?” Steiner asks.
“You’re on your own, brother,” I tell him. Then I reach out and press my fingertips at the back of Brynla’s yellow dress. This is one that our seamstress had custom made for her, along with her armor and other things. The neckline at the back and the front are low and the material is thin and delicate, enough that I can feel the heat of her body through the fabric.
It would be so easy to rip this dress right off her, I think.
Then I’m hit with a pang of want, so sharp and violent that I feel my fingernails dig slightly into her, enough that she tries to step out of the way.
I swallow audibly and press my hand there again. “Come on,” I say to her, heat flaring inside my cock, getting absolutely turned on for no good reason. She glances at me over her shoulder with a bewildered expression, as if sensing the change.
She lets me guide her out into the hall before I finally let my hand fall, my heart going fast against my ribs.
“Oh, by the way,” I whisper as we walk past the kitchen. This is where Lemi pokes his head out. He’s taken to spending a lot of time with the cook before and after dinner, and he stays put, having no interest in joining us. “If my father brings up the plans for the next raid, don’t mention your aunt.”
She looks back at me in surprise. “Why not?”
“He doesn’t know.”
Chapter 14
Brynla
I stare at Andor as we walk toward the great chamber. Though his fingers are no longer pressed against the small of my back, I can still feel them there, like a ghost.
I bring my attention back to the more important matter at hand.
“What do you mean your father doesn’t know?” I whisper, shocked at what Andor is telling me.
He opens his mouth, about to tell me something that will further aggravate me, I’m sure.
But before he can answer, Torsten’s voice booms into the hall.
“There you are,” Torsten says. He waves his glass of alcohol at us and gestures to the door to the great chamber. “I was thinking you were avoiding me.”
“You’re a hard man to avoid,” Andor says, resentment flattening his voice.
I give Torsten a quick smile as we enter the room, enough that he sees I’m not here to be a problem, but not so much so that he thinks I’m someone he can take advantage of—even though by holding me captive, he’s doing just that.
Just hang on a few more weeks, I remind myself. Then you’ll find your chance for escape. Then it won’t matter what Torsten knows or doesn’t know about Andor’s plan to get Ellestra—I’ll be long gone and he’ll be headed back home empty-handed, save for maybe some dragon eggs. And that’s all they really want, isn’t it?
The great chamber shares a fireplace with the dining hall, a circular feature that allows you to sneak a glance at the other room through the flames. But unlike the sparseness and grandeur of the dining room, the great chamber is cozy and small. There are thick rugs, both embroidered with tassels and ones made from animal furs, and several armchairs and couches are in a semicircle facing the fire, the rest of the family scattered among them, with side tables made from wide umberwood trunks.
The focal point isn’t the fireplace itself, though. It’s what’s hanging above the fireplace: a dragon’s skull, large enough to be an elderdrage. I’m suddenly reminded of my last encounter with one, the dragon I thought killed Lemi. The way I was able to stare into its eyes, so close that I could make out the vivid patterns around its pupil, the way that very pupil seemed to see me and know me.
But it was Andor’s arrow that saved my life. Otherwise I would have either gone up in flames or been torn to pieces—or both.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Torsten says, coming beside me and staring up at the skull with reverence. “My father killed that one. He was a young lad at the time, younger than Steiner. On the very first day he went to the Midlands, he managed to slay an elderdrage. Instead of only taking the eggs, he and the crew dragged the entire body onto the boat. Nearly sank the damn thing but it would have been quite the sight to see, his ship coming under the Goddess Gates with a dead dragon on deck. The Kolbecks were always a family to be feared, but at that moment they became the house to be respected.”