Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 110079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Shey reached out and stole the jar of wine again. Before Tyche could complain, Shey took a drink. Tyche’s eyes locked on the thick expanse of his throat, watching as his Adam’s apple hypnotically bobbed with each swallow. What would it feel like to nuzzle that throat? It would probably be so warm on his nose and lips.
“Whoa. That’s good. And strong.”
Shey’s words tugged Tyche from his random thoughts. Okay, so maybe he was fuzzier than he’d first thought. He accepted the jar from Shey and took a sip. “How’d the meeting go?”
The prince lounged on the ground, his shoulder pressing on Tyche’s as he sank low enough that their heads were at the same height. “About how you might expect.”
Tyche snorted. “I have no idea what kings and princes would talk about when another country makes up a bunch of bullshit and picks fights. You’re going to have to give me more than that.”
Shey’s smile returned, but it was short-lived. It fell away, and he reached for the jar that Tyche had set on the ground between them. “It was all about next steps and making a strategic response of equal weight.”
A pained groan left Tyche’s parted lips, and he tipped his head to the side so that his temple now rested on Shey’s shoulder. “What? Dumb it down for me. Assume I don’t speak politics.”
The muscular shoulder shook with silent laughter. “It means that Megumi and Uki wanted several squadrons of dragons to fly south to Aswa and burn the old New Rosanthe capital to the ground for daring to attack the Isle of Stone and Nori. Caelan said he wanted to send his navy to destroy all the Order’s boats while calling up his army to start its trek south to invade New Rosanthe through Ilon. Rayne argued that Caelan was holding on to an old grudge and that he couldn’t allow it to color his actions when the Federation of Order hadn’t technically declared war on Erya yet.”
Tyche was pretty sure that the dragons had the best plan, followed by Caelan, but he also didn’t give a shit about being diplomatic. The people running the Order were definitely in league with the people who were running the secret torture camps. They all needed to burn.
“What about you? What’s your opinion?”
Shey sighed and rested his head on Tyche’s. “Right now, I can’t have one.”
“What? That’s not right. Of course, you can have one. And I’m pretty sure the right one is the same as Caelan’s and Megumi’s.”
Shey moved as if laughing. “No, I can’t have that one because I can’t let my reaction be personal. My reaction must be what is right for my kingdom, and the fact of the matter is that I have no idea what is going on with my kingdom. There’s been limited communication with the queen and our generals since we left Sirelis. I don’t know if we’ve been attacked or invaded or if this has been a bunch of saber-rattling.”
Tyche hummed. “So if they’re just making threatening noises, you can’t go in and sink all their ships.”
“Yes, that would make us look like assholes. We have to match their energy, which would be making threatening noises back at the Order.”
“Pfft. Sounds like New Rosanthe has been the much bigger asshole for a long time, and they need to be pounded into the dirt.” Tyche grabbed the jar of wine and took another sip before passing it over to Shey.
“You’d be popular with my generals. They all have the same opinion. But after the fighting in the Ordas, we all—as in Erya, Caspagir, New Rosanthe, and Ilon—came to an agreement to declare peace and leave what happened with the Goddess of the Hunt in the past. New Rosanthe argued that the goddess brainwashed the emperor, and it wasn’t his fault that he started the war.”
“Wow. That’s some crazy bullshit right there.”
“Yeah, we secretly know it, but Caelan was the first to agree to the terms. If the king whose parents were killed was willing to agree to the terms, there wasn’t much sense in the rest of us kicking up a fuss. We signed the treaty and went home.”
“What you’re saying is that you can’t use their past shitty behavior as a reason to start a war now?”
“Pretty much.”
“Glad I’m not king. That all sounds like a headache to me.” The words were barely out of his mouth when Tyche realized what he was saying. He winced and tacked on, “Sorry.”
“No, you’re right. It can be a headache. Sometimes I’m looking forward to it because I believe I can accomplish a lot of positive things for my people.”
There was a long pause, and Tyche felt the urge to nudge him. “Other times?”
“I want to sneak off somewhere and live a quiet life in the mountains. Let my sister Fiona take over as ruler of Caspagir.”