Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
“We’re ten minutes out,” Nayden said.
I looked up from my tablet to him, then out the window of the jet to see the lights of Abyssinia getting closer and closer.
I turned back to Nayden. “Do you have someone special you’re going home to?”
“I’m sorry?” he asked.
We had not gotten personal. We’d not gotten anything at all. He tolerated me. He protected me. He commanded the crew who also protected me.
And that was it.
“A female? A male? A partner? Someone special,” I explained.
“No,” he said shortly and looked away from me.
All right.
Still at tolerating.
Not optimal, but we were both working with it.
I turned back to the window and now could see the wintry beauty of Berg Castle lit up in the center of the city.
“Down in the Fall, do they teach you Edgian history and folklore?”
Surprised that Nayden was initiating a conversation, I returned my attention to him.
“Yes and no,” I answered. “We’re given some basics, mostly as pertains to how the Fall and the Edge clashed, or other, over history. Though, obviously, you can dive deeper into whatever subject matter interests you.”
“Do you know of King Tol and Queen Serya?”
My eyebrows arched. “The Siege of Abyssinia?”
He nodded.
“The most profoundly stupid display of demon pride in history?” I added.
He didn’t appear insulted.
Then again, Tol had displayed the most profoundly stupid demon pride in history, and it really wasn’t an argument.
“What do you know about it?” he queried.
“That Serya was a warrior demon, like he was. However, she’d just had their first child, a boy, so she wasn’t, at the time, fighting fit. They’d also just sustained two huge losses on the battlefield. And when the rebel forces were advancing on Abyssinia, and their warriors were battle weary and provisions were very low, she advised he retreat. Regroup. Retake the city when they were stronger. He refused to give up the capital. As a result, the rebels surrounded the city and set siege. It lasted over a year. And I don’t like to think of all the stories about how the beings inside its walls suffered when the food and firewood ran out.”
“Strategic retreat is nothing to be ashamed of. Even the best generals elect to do it,” Nayden said. “Thousands of beings died simply because of Tol’s pride.”
“Including Tol and Serya,” I said.
“Yes, but fortunately, Prince Magnum’s nanny disguised him, and when the siege was over, she spirited him away and hid him well so he could be alive to retake the throne thirty-six years later.”
I wasn’t sure why we were talking about this, so I just lifted my chin to indicate I’d heard him.
“Berg Castle was commissioned by Tol’s father. Finished during Tol’s reign,” Nayden shared. “Tol and Serya were the first to live there.”
“It’s said that it’s built on the steps that lead down to all the hells.” And there, I did know some Edgian folklore.
“This has been debunked,” Nayden replied.
“It’s still a cool story,” I mumbled.
“Berg is built from black diablo stone,” Nayden said.
“Yes, I know the castle is enchanted to cover the stone with snow and ice.”
“No. It isn’t enchanted. It’s cursed.”
Okay, that I hadn’t heard.
“Cursed?”
“Magnum’s nanny was from the Break. As such, she was a witch. She loved her charge, but she also loved and respected Serya. And the beings of Abyssinia, all of them, including the royals, suffered during that siege. She was furious Tol put Serya and Magnum through that. Therefore, prior to leaving, she cursed the castle Tol was so very proud of that he put retaining it over the lives of his family and his beings. She cursed it to have its noble diablo stone covered and hidden behind walls of ice, like the walls of ice that had built about around Serya’s heart as she, her husband, and nearly her child wasted away simply because he wouldn’t listen to her.” He cocked his head to the side. “As history has a way of doing, they changed ‘cursed’ to ‘enchanted’ to make it sound better.”
“It might have been a curse, but she made it beautiful.”
“A castle isn’t supposed to be beautiful. It’s a fortified structure built to keep its inhabitants safe. It’s supposed to be formidable and intimidating. Now, it looks like something out of a fairytale.”
The pilot’s voice sounded in the cabin. “Initiating landing procedure in three minutes.”
I buckled in before I turned to look out the window to see we were nearly on top of what was, indeed, a fairytale castle.
Strictly, there was nothing demonic about it.
However, in my mind’s eye, I changed the white to the famous glittering black stone that came from the diablo quarry in southern Sky’s Edge, and it was an altogether different structure.
Still beautiful.
But a terrible beauty.
“Lore says,” Nayden began, and I went back to him, “this witch wove a failsafe in her curse. Lore says there will be a queen of the Edge who will break the curse on Berg Castle. She will be the perfect match to the king. She will come to him in a time of trouble. And her love for him will see him through those troubles. And the love and wisdom she offers him will keep him, their family, and the beings of the Edge safe. And when this king finds that queen, she’ll bring down the enchantments that lock the castle in an eternal freeze. And those of the Edge will know the king has found his perfect mate.”