Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 117246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117246 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
“He’s inside,” the viscount said, stepping aside.
Like a brave girl, I pushed inside a spacious chamber. The opulence caught me off guard. Murals covered a cathedral ceiling, depicting battles between men and beasts. Golden statues lined the walls, bracketed by ivory columns veined with crushed rubies. Each figure featured a colossal man with ram horns and wings encrusted with diamonds. A white marble floor gleamed. The air smelled of cloying, clashing perfumes, one too musky and the other too sweet.
King Dolion stood at the other side of the room, beneath the dais steps, peering up at the biggest statue. The horned, winged man towered behind a massive golden throne, gripping its top. His wings folded in at the sides, the tips brushing the arms of the royal seat.
My nerve endings buzzed with something I did not like. “This place is . . .” Awful.
“Glorious, I know. Welcome to the Temple of Astan.” The king kept his attention on the throne. I detected no anger in his tone. No accusation or irritation. “My thinking spot.”
I shuffled deeper inside. “Why am I here?” In a temple for the man Shiloh had claimed was leading Cured. Looked like the medic had gotten something else right.
Perhaps he’d nailed other facts too. The sleeping gods and heating war no longer struck me as such an outlandish idea.
“Two reasons,” the king said. “We believe you can handle the truth, and you are important to my son. He’s made that very clear. Therefore, I’d like a chance to get to know you better.”
No, he hadn’t discovered what I’d done with the transmitter. Otherwise, I’d be in chains right now. “I can handle anything but more lies.” I forced myself to breeze past the admission about Cyrus.
The king waved to the throne. “Astan is a god and Soal’s greatest enemy. As Victors mentioned, the two are at war.”
Anger returned redoubled and wove between the fibers of my surprise. After all the deception and denials, the king had just admitted it. Just like that. As if I hadn’t spent my entire life scoffing at anyone who voiced such preposterous ideas.
“Ordinary people are ostracized for making such an outrageous claim,” I ground out.
“A necessary evil for the good of the world.”
“There’s no such thing as a necessary evil.”
He frowned, as if disappointed in my inability to see beyond myself. “You speak of what you do not understand, Miss Roosa.”
“Everyone is fond of saying that, but no one is willing to explain.” I was just furious enough to push, even if it got me into trouble. “There are some who’ve claimed Soal is the cure to Madness.”
He compressed his lips. “Ah, yes. I’ve heard the same. I assure you, they lie.”
I wasn’t so sure anymore. Didn’t know what to believe.
Maybe he read my uncertainty. “The eating of the stone and the drinking of the sap is what births glowers.”
I swallowed a humorless laugh. Well, well. Another fact Shiloh had gotten right. According to the reports he’d provided, glowers bore no trace of the Madness as we knew it. “To eat and drink of the Rock, they must crack into it. An impossibility, I thought.”
“It is and it isn’t. Only glowers can do it. We have yet to replicate their method.” The king strode forward. “Once, Astan ruled Theirland with his wife, Briar. I’m sure you’ve noticed the statues sprinkled around the compound. They represent the most trusted members of their council before Soal decimated the entire realm, forcing them into hiding and hibernation. Astan says a time is coming when the old gods will awaken and the final battle will erupt. That’s why Soal has inserted himself into our society. He hopes to build an army and slaughter the rest of us.”
I balled my hands into fists. Yet another suspicion of Shiloh’s confirmed. While I knew little about Soal, I now comprehended an appalling fact. From the beginning, his Soalians had spoken the truth about the gods and their war. And they were punished for it.
Needing a moment, I asked the first question to pop into my head. “What is that dinosaur hybrid thing?”
“That is Bala, Astan’s beloved pet and the namesake of our military base.” The king braced his arms behind his back. “The Madness comes from Soal. It is his favorite means of eradication. His way of weakening a world before striking. Astan has the antidote, and it has the capacity to immortalize even the most average of citizens. Currently that antidote is too powerful for humans and requires modifications we haven’t yet mastered.”
I wondered if Soal would tell a different story. Actually, no. I didn’t wonder. He would. According to Shiloh, a confirmed Soalian, the Madness was spread by Cured. If he was right . . .
The king watched me, gauging every nuance of my expression. “You’ve met Soal, I take it.”