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)
Adira watched as she walked through the gathered warriors, who instinctively parted to allow her passage. The creature did not hesitate. She did not threaten. She simply moved with the certainty of one who belonged to this forest and had no reason to fear those who entered it.
“Do not touch your weapons,” Dravic ordered as the large Wolfin approached him.
Every man there stilled, their hands lingering near the handles of their weapons, though dared not touch them.
Adira stared at the magnificent creature, struck by the power and confidence she carried.
The king’s arm remained firm around her waist, his chin slightly tilted, and his shoulders drawn back. And to Adira’s amazement, his heartbeat remained steady against her hand. He showed no signs of fear, and she realized he shared the same power and confidence as the Wolfin.
Adira watched as the white wolf and the king held each other’s gaze.
“I wish you and your kind no harm. I seek only information,” Dravic said, his voice firm and filled with authority.
The Wolfin stared for a moment longer, then she backed away slowly. Before turning, she bowed her head low as if honoring the king. But her gold eyes were not on the king, they were on Adira.
That was when Adira heard the words clearly.
Welcome home.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A Name in the Silence
Questions of the Past
Talk of the white Wolfin followed them as they continued deeper into Driochmor.
The men made little attempt to keep their voices low, their excitement obvious in animated gestures and frequent glances toward the king. Adira did not need to hear them to know what held their attention. They spoke of the magnificent creature and the way she had walked fearlessly among them to bow before their king.
None of them had noticed where the Wolfin’s gold eyes had truly rested.
Adira had. And she had heard her.
Welcome home.
The words had been so clear that even now she could hear them in her head, though the strange opening that had allowed them through seemed to have closed again.
She did not understand what the Wolfin meant. This was not her home. She had never been here before, never walked these forests or known the creatures that inhabited them. Yet the Wolfin had looked directly at her when those words reached her.
Had the creature spoken them?
Adira could not be certain.
She had seen no movement of the Wolfin’s mouth beyond what she would expect from such a creature, and yet the words had come as clearly as if someone was standing beside her and whispered them into her ear.
Dravic’s fingers slipped beneath her chin and lifted her face.
Adira was startled from her thoughts to find him watching her.
Concern lingered in his eyes. He thought she was frightened.
She smiled and shook her head, hoping it would be enough to reassure him.
His brow remained furrowed.
Apparently, it was not.
Adira gave him a firmer shake of her head and placed her hand briefly over the arm he kept secure around her waist.
She was fine. Confused, but fine.
His eyes narrowed slightly, making it obvious he remained unconvinced, but he finally released her chin and turned his attention back to the path.
Adira settled against him once again. She would tell him if she could. She simply did not know how. How did she explain that silence was no longer silent when she did not understand it herself?
The voices of the men continued around her, mouths moving, faces alive with the excitement of what they had witnessed. Every so often something brushed against her awareness, so faint she could not be certain whether it was sound or simply the strange whispers that had followed her since entering Driochmor.
She concentrated harder, but whatever she heard was gone before she could catch it.
Adira turned slightly, watching the men riding behind them. Several spoke at once, making it impossible to know where the faint sounds came from.
Then two words broke free of everything else.
“King Dravic.”
Adira froze.
The sounds vanished as quickly as they had come, but this time she knew exactly where they had come from.
One of the warriors riding ahead of them.
Her gaze went immediately to the man whose mouth continued to move as he spoke to the warrior beside him. She could hear nothing more.
But she had heard those two words.
King Dravic.
Her eyes widened.
King, she understood. Feena had managed to teach her what some written words meant. She had taught her the word king and a gesture for it once they arrived at Caerith Castle.
But the other… Dravic.
Her gaze slowly lifted to the man she rested against.
That was his name.
He had always simply been the king to her.
Dravic.
She repeated the sound silently in her thoughts, afraid she might lose it if she did not hold tightly to it.
Dravic.
A warmth spread through her that had nothing to do with his body pressed against hers.
She knew his name. The thought pleased her so much that a smile escaped before she could stop it.