Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 575(@200wpm)___ 460(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
This woman vied for the same exalted position as the high prince. If she could convince me she was on my side, get me to confess to a crime, then pin me as a traitor, she could damage Cyrus’s chance of success.
“You’ll have to elaborate if you’d like me to understand what you’re saying,” I grated.
She canted her head, examining me further. “We are people with an agenda. You seek Cyrus, Cyrus seeks the crown, and I seek what Cyrus can give me. I’ll win him back, I assure you.”
Bile churned in my throat, frothing. “He’s your competition.”
“I have no competition.” She spread her arms, all look at me. “He respects strength, and I have that in spades. We can rule the kingdoms together. But you . . . you are a lamb among wolves. You’ll make a pitiful queen. I just thought you should know so you don’t waste your prime on unattainable dreams.”
More teeth gnashing. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
A grim-faced Domino appeared behind her, stepping from thin air. “There’s a problem,” he said, and I jolted. “The fires Heta mentioned are producing smoke laced with some kind of sedative that affects only recently turned Soalians. As soon as one falls, feeders converge.”
Panic delivered a one-two strike, stealing my breath. “Is there a way to combat it?” I burst out without thought.
Lolli narrowed her eyes. “You did not just bark a question at me.” A pause. She grated, “Combat what?”
I opened my mouth, unsure what to say. A loud buzzer went off, spilling from the intercom system, saving me from having to eke out some kind of apology or explanation.
The princess popped to her feet. I did the same, my heart racing. The other soldiers quickened their pace, rushing to finish loading a truck.
“They’re calling for us,” she said, stalking to a table littered with equipment. “We’ll deal with your insubordination later.” After sheathing a handful of daggers, she jumped up and down, shook out her hands, and touched two fingers to her lips three times before pointing those fingers into the air.
Some kind of good-luck ritual?
I looked to Domino, wide eyed. How was I supposed to avoid an airborne sedative? I couldn’t not breathe.
“A battalion is en route,” he informed me, resolved. Perhaps even concerned? “They’ll clear the air. The problem is, they are twelve minutes and eighteen seconds out.”
Guess I’d have to find a way to stay awake, no matter the provocation, for twelve minutes. “I’ve got this,” I muttered, and he gave a stiff nod.
Lolli handed me a familiar metal band. An RVM corrector. I anchored the piece around my head and programmed the eye lens to drop. In Theirland, once you exited the base, you experienced upside-down vision. The lens righted everything, but not without consequences. Sharp pains sliced into my brain, and they were worse than any time previous. Usually those pains faded, leaving a dull ache behind. This time, the sharpness remained. Nothing I could do about it now. Eleven minutes, forty-five seconds.
I followed the princess to the truck, expecting the librarian to follow. Before vanishing, he merely called, “Stick to Lolli as if you are glued.”
Great. Just when I needed him most. Trembling, I climbed inside the vehicle. The men jumped in after me. The princess and I sat in the back, settling upon the bench that rimmed the cab, with the others sitting in front of us.
Another thirty seconds down.
High Princess Lolli reached out to slap the side of the truck. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Eleven
Wounds given by a friend are better than the kisses given by a foe.
—The Book of Soal 1.20.27.6
The twisting in my stomach only worsened as our truck approached the open garage doors. I palmed a netter and a harbinger. The second we cleared the entryway, entering the night, everything changed. From a well-lit interior to a darkness so thick I felt the ooze of it against my skin. A fetid stench stung my nostrils—one I knew well. The rot of the maddened. Though we hadn’t yet reached the smoke, I made each inhale brief, drawing in as little oxygen as possible. Just ten minutes to go.
We cleared the fenced area around the base, and I heard the maddened too. A symphony of screeches, calls of “Love Soal,” and eerie clicks and hisses. They blended with an ebb and flow of gunfire.
A sharp grinding sound blasted at my left. I lifted my weapons into firing position, preparing for an attack. But where was the threat? My RVM lens only let me see within a five-foot radius.
“Hold your fire, newbie. Pritis poles are rising throughout the terrain,” Lolli explained, and a second later, light exploded from above us, chasing away a measure of the gloom.
Instant fury. So badly I wanted to leap out of the car and tear down each pole.