Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
“So you ran and spent three years in hiding?”
“I wasn’t hiding from my fate. I was hiding from my father.”
“Why not just tell Hale the truth?”
I bite the inside of my cheek. “Because I was sure he would tell me to do it anyway.”
“And did he?”
I meet Misha’s gaze and hold it. “I haven’t told him.” I turn back to the view, studying the sparkling sky on the horizon. “I don’t want him to sacrifice himself. I don’t want to be the reason we lose him.”
“You won’t be. Even if this future she foretold comes to pass, it won’t be because of you. You can’t prevent all the horrible things in the world from happening.”
“Then why did she show this to me?”
He sighs. “I don’t know. I don’t really understand your oracle. She shows you possible futures and you either work to ensure they come to pass—like your brother wanting to see Erith killed—or you fight to change the course of fate—like you avoiding your fate as Erith’s assassin to protect Hale.”
I shiver. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to live in fear of your own future?”
“Unfortunately, I do.” Misha’s gaze slides over my face. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that was sympathy in his eyes. “But if I’ve learned anything from having a seer in the family, it’s that fate is a slimy thing. People like to think of it like a fixed point, but it’s always changing.” He waves a hand toward the view. “You see that temple? The star that sits at its peak, almost as if it was made to go there?”
I nod and attempt a smile. “We are in the Court of the Moon, so perhaps it was.”
“Not even Mab herself can keep the stars fixed in place in the sky. Tomorrow, we could come stand here and it would seem nothing has moved. Maybe even the day after and the day after that, but we know from the scholars who chart the night skies that the star that sits atop that temple tonight won’t be there in two moons’ time. Fate is like that.”
“I have hoped for nothing more,” I whisper.
“That’s why I think you should tell your brother the truth,” he says, and I cut my gaze to him. “And if after you speak with him you decide you want to kill Erith the moment you’re done helping them get Jas back, I will go with you.”
I draw back, confused. “Surely there are many places you’d prefer to be than by my side.”
“Well, yes, but time with you will make me appreciate them all the more.”
I cough out a laugh. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
He turns and studies me for a long time, eyes sweeping across my face so many times I wonder if he can see the real Felicity waiting beneath. “Everyone in this world has a fate they would personally rearrange the stars to avoid.” His gaze settles on my mouth for a beat before he takes a step back. “Don’t think I am so different.”
Chapter Ten
Felicity
Hale’s sitting on the patio alone, glass of amber liquid in front of him. I feel a long tug in my chest. I’ve missed my brother so much. For all his flaws, he made me who I am. Every bit of courage and strength I have, I have because he instilled it in me. Our mother would’ve coddled me until I grew soft and useless, but Hale wouldn’t have that. I used to think it was because he wanted someone to go on his adventures with him, but I think he knew I would need to be tough, that someday I would need the kind of strength and resilience I would never learn tied to our mother’s apron strings.
The sun has long past set, but I doubt he noticed.
The chair across from him groans against the stone as I pull it out to sit. “Figure it out yet?”
He blinks at me as if noticing for the first time that he’s not alone. “Figure what out?”
I shrug. “Everything. You look deep in thought.”
He scrapes a hand over his face. “There’s a lot to think about.” He cuts his gaze to me. “I’m sure the same is true for you.”
I huff out a humorless laugh. “My thoughts are spinning so fast I can hardly keep up with them.”
“Tell me . . . about where you were—where you thought you were?”
My stomach twists. “He locked me in a dream of some sort. I was living in the Eloran Palace, training to be one of the Seven. I idolized my mother, and I . . .” I was in love with a man who loved me for who I am rather than who I was pretending to be. “And there was my twin too. Konner and I were close.”