Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 685(@200wpm)___ 548(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“She’s hurting herself enough without any further punishment.”
“You’re getting soft, Your Highness.”
“You’re awfully noisy, Hayes,” I said flatly. “Do you have a reason to be here or are you merely trying to get out of work?”
“Yes, yes, I have this report for you. How is Lady Alicia?” he asked, glancing at her as he crossed the room to me.
“There’s nothing we can do but wait for her to wake up.” I took the envelope he handed me. “Did you find out who those children are?”
“Yes. They’re Marquess Wentworth’s twins. It appears they slipped away from their nanny to collect flowers from the forest for their sick mother when they came across the wraithhusk. The blood on Lady Alicia’s dress was from the young lady who hurt her leg while escaping.”
“Is the child all right?”
“Yes. A priest healed her cut, but her father requested that he leave her sprained ankle without treatment to teach them both a lesson.”
“That’s one way to do it.” I pulled out the papers. “Did they lead the wraithhusk to the rest area by accident?”
“No. As it says in the report, we found traces of mudlung blood leading a path to the rest area. The children running into it was mere happenstance.”
“The poison in a mudlung tail is like a drug to a wraithhusk, so much so that their blood is enticing on its own.” I scanned the paper. “I was surprised when Sir Chester said they cleared an abandoned nest of young ones out a week ago. They usually don’t stop to breed in the forest here because it’s too wet at this time of year. It’s possible the nest was brought in deliberately to be bait.”
“It doesn’t seem like a coincidence,” Hayes agreed. “Is it possible that Lady Alicia was led there deliberately?”
“I haven’t ruled it out, but I don’t know enough about Lady Armand to say for sure. All I know is that she’s from a countryside barony and debuted this weekend, but I already have someone looking into her. Right now, all I can say is that it’s coincidence that both the Wentworth twins and Allie came into contact with the monster.” I put the papers down and sat back in my chair, sighing. “I assume the hunt has been cancelled?”
Hayes nodded. “His Majesty cancelled all the remaining events but ordered that everyone remain here. Anyone who isn’t staying at the Imperial Villas had to give over their information before leaving the hunting grounds earlier today.”
“Is Lady Armand still here?”
“Baroness Kilgard is staying at the Kilgard villa around forty minutes away.”
“Send someone over there. I want a report on Lady Armand’s movements from now.”
He paused. “Do you really think she has anything to do with this?”
“I don’t know, but the fact that she seems to have a romantic interest in me and clashed with Allie shortly before the attack is enough for me to want to keep an eye on her.” I tapped my fingers against the table. “I want to know what was said between them.”
“You don’t have any interest in that lady, do you, sir?”
I glared at him.
He shrunk back. “Silly question.”
“You know, if you weren’t so good at your job, I’d have killed you several times over by now.”
“Probably rightfully.” Hayes cleared his throat and bowed. “Get some rest, Your Highness.”
I stared after him as he left, then got up and walked over to the bed where Allie was lying. She hadn’t moved since she’d collapsed—not even a twitch. She was so cold that if I couldn’t see the rise and fall of her chest and feel her exhale against my hand, I would think she was dead.
I wasn’t sure I’d convinced myself that she wasn’t.
I reached over and brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Rest, he says,” I murmured, stroking her hair. “How am I supposed to do that?”
Chapter Thirty-Five – Alicia
The Missing Pieces
A rich, salty scent that tickled at my nostrils as I awoke, followed by the gentle swoosh of waves breaking against the shore.
I was by an ocean.
What was I doing near the sea? Last time I checked, the Imperial Villas didn’t have a beach anywhere near them, so how had this happened? What was I doing here?
“Oww,” I moaned, pushing myself up onto my elbows. I immediately sank back down into the soft sand with an “oomph.”
Seriously.
What the heck was going on here?
The last thing I remembered was the kids—the injured little girl had been taken from my arms right before I’d seen the wraithhusk coming towards an injured Rina. Then there was that weird burst of blue and gold light erupting from my hands like a shield and the intense sensation of every part of my body hurting in ways I’d never felt before.
Oh.
And a red mana sword.
Kalon.
I looked down at my hands. Was I dead? Had the monster gotten hold of me? Or was it the light that’d come from me that’d finished me off?