Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
She did not know what made her do it, the overwhelming heartache or the fear she felt, but she could not just stand there. She stepped around the king and dropped down beside the woman and put her arm around her back.
The woman looked up so shocked that her tears halted. “I am sorry, so very sorry. I meant you no harm. I was jealous. I thought he wanted you more than me.”
Adira did not know why she shook her head, she only knew it was what she needed to do. Then she placed her hand on her chest and then the woman’s chest.
“You forgive me,” Eunice said, understanding.
Adira smiled softly again sensing it was the right response.
“She may forgive, but I don’t,” Dravic said, and grabbed Adira’s arm and pulled her to her feet.
Adira rested her hand on the king’s arm, narrowed her brow, and shook her head.
Dravic lowered his face to hers. “It does not matter if you do not understand. My word is law.”
Adira pressed her hand to his chest.
Tavish took note of both touches. Touches the king had not granted and had not objected to. It also had not been the first time he had seen Adira touch the king without permission.
“Don’t ask me to forgive her,” the king snapped.
She pressed her hand harder against his chest.
“She lied,” Dravic said as if she’d understand.
Harder still she pressed until she felt the rapid beat of his heart.
Dravic did not know what he felt, but he felt something, strange as it was, and stranger still was what he did.
He turned to Tavish. “She is banished to Venngraith, never to set foot in Caerith again.” He paused for a heartbeat. “After she announces to all that she lied.”
Tavish did not hide his shock.
Eunice, however, scrambled to her feet, bowing her head repeatedly. “Thank you, my king. Thank you so much. I will shout from the rooftops that I lied. I will make sure all hear that I am a fool, a lying fool, and how grateful I am to the king for his leniency.”
“Take her!” Dravic commanded.
Tavish grabbed her arm and marched her to the door.
“Tavish,” Dravic called out, stopping them both. “Shear her hair from her head.”
“Aye, my king,” Tavish said, looking pleased, not so much Eunice.
The door closed as Adira dropped her hand off the king’s chest, but he caught her wrist and held it tight.
He raised his other hand and shook his finger at her. “Never again.”
She felt the rumble of anger roll through him and understood he was not pleased with her.
He pressed his finger against the tip of her nose. “Never again!”
She nodded, understanding from his anger and gestures that he was warning her never to do what she just did again. Then she made a sorrowful face and tapped her chest, hoping he understood she was sorry.
“Sorry does little good. Do not do it again,” he warned, then released her hand and walked to the window, stopping before he reached it to glance back at her.
They had communicated. He was not sure how, but they had made themselves clear to each other and that surprised him, but why did it also please him?
Dravic turned back toward the window.
The snow outside the glass softened the edges of the courtyard below, turning stone and shadow into something quieter than it had any right to be.
Yet his mind was not on the view.
It was on her… Adira.
He realized, with a faint tightening in his chest, how little he actually knew of her beyond what stood in front of him each day.
Where did she come from? What of her parents? Had she ever known siblings? And what had life been like before silence and stillness became her way of meeting the world?
His jaw tightened slightly.
He had never asked, not once.
His gaze stayed fixed on the glass, but his thoughts did not remain there.
Had she been born this way? Or had something taken it from her—sound, voice, the ease of simply existing in conversation?
His hand flexed once against the stone window frame, the thought lingering longer than the others.
Dravic turned from the window. Curiosity had settled where anger had been. Without another word, he moved toward the door and swung it open.
The guards stationed outside straightened immediately.
“Fetch Feena,” he ordered.
One of them bowed and left at once.
Dravic returned inside to wait, eager to speak with her.
Adira stayed where she was, watching him pace and cast glances at the door. It was obvious he had summoned someone, and she wondered who it was.
It did not take long to find out.
The door swung open and Feena entered with the returning guard.
Adira smiled, seeing Feena hurry to brush the silver strands that had loosened from the braided coil at the nape of her neck away from her face. It was a familiar gesture that made Adira realize how much she missed Feena, her time now spent so often with the king.