Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Neither of us says anything as I mend the cracks and fix the windows. If only it were that easy to fix the problems I’m facing. I haven’t even started on the slave-trading operation yet. Elsie remains my priority. I won’t rest until I find the enemy trying to hurt her.
“How do you want to move forward?” Kian asks.
Knowing I can trust my brother, I put him in charge of the investigation while I kept Elsie in Marikanea. I’d hoped he would’ve sniffed out the perpetrator by now, but if he’s right and someone is clever enough to twist the truth in their memories, we have to change tactics.
“I want every person in the palace watched,” I bite out. “I want to know everything about everyone, down to what they eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
“You want me to put spies on the royals?”
I give him a hard look, leaving no doubt about my meaning. “Everyone.”
“That’s plenty of Alit. We’ll need a lot of spies.”
My chuckle is wry. “I’m not increasing the risk by bringing more people into the palace, and I don’t trust anyone except for the guards I vetted myself. Present company excluded, of course.”
“So who will handle this?”
I grip his shoulder. “You, me, and a few guards.”
He lets out a long breath. “You should consider pulling Vitai and Gaia in. There’s too much ground to cover for just the two of us.”
I pull my lips back into a dark grin. “Who needs sleep?” I didn’t enhance my senses to hear and see through walls for nothing.
A portal appears in the center of the floor. Jaw ticking, I release Kian.
My mother steps through the portal with Tarix short on her heels. “Aruan.” She nods in greeting, wisely not trying to hug me.
I’m not sure how long it’s going to take before I can forgive her for what she did. Maybe an eternity.
“They told me you were home.” Her smile is stiff. Uncertain. “How was your visit?”
“Good,” I say, not giving her more. “Is there something you wanted?”
She folds her hands in front of her, her posture the epitome of serenity and innocence. “It’s time. I’m sending the humans home.” She faces Kian. “Your father and our advisors agreed it’s best if they don’t remember Zerra.”
“You want me to erase those memories,” Kian says.
Not deeming it necessary to confirm the statement, she addresses me. “It’s time for Elsie too.”
Time for Elsie to pay her adoptive parents a visit.
Without another word, she turns around and leaves through the portal she left open.
Tarix glances at a few small pieces of glass that remained forgotten on the floor when I repaired the windows I’d broken. His gaze flits between the shards and my face as he hurries after my mother.
When I look at Kian, he’s assessing me.
“What?” I snap.
“How much are you going to tell her parents?”
“You mean the people who raised her.”
“Yes.” He continues with the same monotonous intonation, “Her parents.”
“Just what they need to know.”
“That their daughter is a powerful Alit mated to a prince and now living on Zerra?”
I raise a brow. “And?”
“That’s more or less everything they were never supposed to know.”
“And?” I repeat.
“Are you sure in doing that you’re not signing their death sentence?”
I curl my fingers into fists. “If anyone touches them, they touch me.”
He pats my shoulder. “Just make sure everyone knows that.” He heads for the archway and pauses at the threshold. “You coming? I thought you’d be excited for a chance to see Earth.”
I throw him a crude sign, which only makes him chuckle.
When Kian walks into the hallway, I go after him. Like all Alit children, I’d been curious about Earth when I was younger. But after Elsie’s alleged death, my curiosity diminished. I lost interest in just about everything. It took all my energy to cling to sanity and be the ruler Zerra needs. Not a day went by that I didn’t fight the numbness that had been steadily twisting around my soul like a vine, choking off the emotions I had left.
But now I feel again, and I want to know everything, especially if it concerns Elsie. I want to see the home in which she grew up and meet her adoptive parents. And that’s exactly what I will do shortly.
I’m only a few stairs and a portal away from Earth, but before I go, there’s something I need to do.
Catching up with Kian, I order, “You’re going to give me the ability to speak English.”
Chapter 19
Elsie
Eucabeth clings to me. “No.” Her whisper is frantic. “I don’t want my memory wiped.”
The king, the queen, Kian, Aruan, and the group of ex-slaves look on with expressions varying from concern to unease. The king’s narrow-eyed scrutiny worries me the most. Thankfully, Vitai hasn’t come to see the humans off. His presence would’ve only made the situation worse for Eucabeth.