Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
He directed her to the horses. “Here we go.” He stopped beside the largest of them, a dappled gray male with a seemingly pleasant disposition. His horse.
She glanced between that horse and the ones behind. “I can ride one on my own.”
“And untie your own, ride off into the abyss on your own, and get killed by a Celestial or twisted creature on your own, yes. But I want you alive for now, and so I’ll ensure you stay in one piece, yes?” He gestured at his horse a second time.
She sighed but hopped up, feeling his hands on her hips to help.
“I got it,” she murmured, trying to shake off the glorious thrum tightening her up.
“Besides,” he said, easily hopping up behind her, his muscular thighs sliding in tightly against her legs, “you talked yourself out of running last night. I don’t have high hopes that you’ll refrain today. Not once you see the Faegate, as you call it. It’ll be easier for me to keep control of you this way.”
“Oh, well. Let’s definitely make things easier on you.”
“Yes, thank you. I’m glad you see it my way.”
He prodded the horse to moving.
The dirt road running alongside the camp wasn’t much more than tamped-down grasses and scuffs of brown. She thought about what she’d read and compared that to the sprigs of green budding on the nearby trees or the occasional shrub or wildflower that crept up from the beds of pine needles.
“This isn’t at all a wasteland. I mean…” She shrugged. “It’s not exactly a lush forest or anything, but I expected large tracks of dirt and not much else. Maybe desert.” She’d expected the books to be somewhat right. Given that they weren’t, it called into question everything else she’d read about the fae lands.
“Your texts will very likely be wrong in many respects, but the environment here does get more dismal the closer we get to the fringe. The Divine Collective made sure the magic was strong. Too strong, some think. That magic seeps into the human realm this close to the fringe and twists the fabric of your world. It’s sectioned off by the portal, keeping it away from the rest of your realm, but it certainly affects this area.”
She crinkled her nose, looking closer at the trees and the gnarled roots at some of their bases. “What about this is twisting the fabric of reality?”
He transferred the reins to one hand and dropped the other to her thigh. A thrill that wasn’t welcome arrested her. She picked his hand up by the wrist and passed it back to his own thigh.
“The plant life isn’t horribly affected, no,” he said after a beat, leaving his hand where she had put it. “It’s not thriving, as you said, but it isn’t turning to flesh-eating vines or anything, not like we have in the wylds. But the animals haven’t escaped the magical influence. A hare looks somewhat normal until it is gnawing on your face in your sleep, for example. The wagons were a nice change. Usually, I have to set up wards and magical pitfalls to trap anything that gets close. It always wakes me up. I usually get terrible sleep the day before a passage. But today I feel as fresh as a morning lily.”
“Bully for you,” she groused, and he laughed delightedly. “There’s nothing big enough to crawl or jump into a wagon?”
“Not anymore. Not like four human years ago, when this area was treacherous. More faeries have crossed in the last year, hunting the larger predators for food or killing them in self-defense. Some kill just for sport, I think.”
Four human years? Their scale of time must be different. It wasn’t important at the moment, though. She remembered the people in the stairwell talking about the creatures that had crossed.
“More faeries have crossed?” she asked.
“Yes. The Celestials are breaking down in their duties. The High Sovereign— That’s the queen and king of the Fair Folk tasked with overseeing all the kingdoms and the wylds. They’re in charge of maintaining the balance of our realm, a precarious affair. You know, in case your books didn’t cover it…” He was teasing again, in great spirits despite the seriousness with which he’d spoken last night. When she didn’t respond, having known that already, he continued. “The High Sovereign are experiencing squabbles within their court and their family. That is always the case within a court, to some degree, but things have become a lot more chaotic. Politics aren’t aligned and the kin are vying for the Diamond Crown. A push for power always results in instability. Given fae are immortal, and the Diamond Throne is usually the most solid of the land, upheaval like this comes but once in many of your lifetimes.”
“But now, the more cunning of your kind will use it to their benefit.”