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)
A bit of Lach’s rage quells. Maon, for all his snobbishness, really is loyal. It would be easy for a truly ruthless man to let us fade. Maon would likely be king since as far as everyone believes, Gillian is dead, and Shim and I will fade. Still, Maon pushes us, ever devising new manipulations to force us to take a mate and live. There’s only one problem with the scenario.
“We already have a mate.” It’s the only reply I can give.
Maon stands, and his mouth flattens in a derisive frown. “The princess in the tower. Yes, I’ve heard the tale. And you two wonder why you’re relegated to the end of the table. You’re lucky he allows you to be here at all. Your minds are going. And tell that damn gnome to keep quiet.” He taps on the table. “Yes, we all know you’re here.”
Duffy’s squeak can be heard through the room.
Maon walks away, taking his place among the important men of the kingdom.
Duffy’s head comes up. “I tried to sneak in quietly.”
Shim scoots over. “It doesn’t matter. Come on up. They know you’re here.”
The gnome huffs as he pulls his body up and into the chair beside Shim. “Don’t know as I like the way everyone talks about you.”
I shrug. “I do know how I feel, but no one seems to care.” I stare at the Seelie twins. They’re everything legend would have them be. Perfect in form and function. They look like twins. Neither of them has a ruined face, and everyone takes them seriously.
My hand slides over the left side of my face, touching the scarred flesh there. I steal a glance at Shim, who’s gone pale, his eyes sliding away, guilt evident every time I remind him of that terrible day.
“So we’re meeting the Host, eh?” Duffy sits forward, watching the door with a fierce look on his face. He used the formal name for a group of sluagh. The Host. No one wants to deal with the damn Host. Duffy’s tiny hands clench into fists. “I think I can handle them. After all, they’re nothing but shade, right? Warriors of the Fae should be able to take them down no trouble.”
“They’re non-corporeal dead, Duffy. I doubt your axe is going to work on them,” Shim points out.
If Duffy can hoist his axe at all. I worry for the gnome. Not because I think Duffy will flee in a real battle, but rather because I know he won’t. “Let Father handle the sluagh.”
Three faces turn, shock alighting on them. The guests around me gasp.
“Please, Your Highness,” one of them begs. The other two glance back at the door as though the very fact that I said the name might conjure them up.
I give them a sigh. “I can’t bring them down on our heads by saying their name. They’re already here, so why don’t we act like we’re not scared of the buggers?” I lean over to one of the men, a sidhe from the village outside the palace. Madden is the king’s liaison to the villagers. “Do you know if they came from the caves?”
There’s been a nest of sluagh living in the caves by the beach for as long as anyone can remember. They, along with the Planeswalker demons, can slip on and off the planes as they please, though no one has figured out how. It’s a closely held secret. To discover it, one has to become a sluagh, and no one comes back from that. I glance down at the box at my feet. It’s filled with crap. Trinkets from my travels. A cheap broach I picked up, several combs, a set of cards from the Vampire plane. It’s a load of junk I bought and don’t need, but it will be enticing to the sluagh, who live for such oddities. I meant to offer it to my father, but I was told to take my seat.
I suppose no one needs my negotiation skills.
“I hear they’re from the Seelie plane,” Madden explains. He threads his fingers together, glancing back at the door. “They have news.”
Shim leans in. “Why would they help? Sluagh don’t take sides.”
No. Sluagh take people. They take lives and slaves. They take rotted corpses when they want a meal. They do not take sides.
A sudden chill falls across the room like a wave slowly crashing on the shore.
The Host is close. I feel it. A spark of power shimmers through me. Yes, the dead are coming. It’s an odd thing, but I feel more comfortable, my body relaxing as though I finally found my place. I lean back, my eyes focused on the door.
Madden shivers. “I don’t like this. Perhaps the king should bar the door.”
I feel a smile slide across my face. Oh, but I’m suddenly hungry. “It wouldn’t work. They have no need of doors.”