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)
Finally, Merek spoke. “King Dravic.”
Adira’s breath caught. She heard it. Not clearly enough to distinguish both words, but she heard his name again… Dravic.
Her hand closed instinctively over the king’s arm.
His attention immediately dropped to her.
Merek noticed.
So did Ernach.
Dravic looked from Adira to the man standing before him. “You know who I am. That saves introductions.”
“Aye.”
“And yet you do not bow.”
Merek’s expression remained unchanged. “Would it make you more of a king if I did?”
Seger drew a sharp breath.
Dravic raised one hand before the Hunter could speak. “Nay.”
Merek seemed surprised by the answer.
Dravic studied him. “But it tells me much about how you view your king.”
“We have seen little reason to view any king favorably.”
There it was. Not rebellion. Something more troublesome… resentment.
Dravic glanced at the villagers watching them. Some quickly looked away while others did not.
He had seen that same look in defeated men who obeyed because they had no choice. Such obedience lasted only until someone offered them another choice.
Tharne could offer one.
The thought struck hard. If the warlord reached people like these before Dravic gave them reason to stand with Scotara, Tharne could know victory. Some in Driochmor might even simply open the door and invite him in.
Dravic looked back at Merek. “I am not the king who gave you reason to distrust the crown.”
“Nay,” Merek said. “But you wear the same crown.”
Dravic could not argue with that, nor would he.
“What will it take for you to judge the man wearing it rather than those who wore it before him?”
For the first time, Merek’s certainty faltered, only slightly.
But Dravic saw it.
The villagers nearest them appeared equally surprised.
Merek’s eyes narrowed as he studied him. “You truly wish an answer?”
“I would not have asked otherwise.”
“Then stay long enough in Driochmor to hear from those here.”
Dravic gave a single nod. “I intend to.”
Merek’s gaze shifted briefly to Adira before returning to the king. “You and the woman will have a cottage. Your men will be given shelter where we can find it. The rest will have to make do in the meeting hall.”
“That will suffice,” Dravic said, approving it.
Merek turned away, then stopped. “No weapons are drawn within Thorskaill unless we draw ours first.”
Seger bristled. “You dictate terms to your king?”
Merek looked at Dravic rather than the Hunter.
Dravic understood exactly what the man was doing… testing him.
“Agreed.”
“My king—”
“Enough, Seger.”
Merek gave Dravic the faintest nod before walking away.
Seger waited until the man was out of hearing before moving his horse alongside the king’s. “You should not have agreed to that.”
“I should ride into a village that already distrusts me and allow armed men to threaten them?”
“We are here to protect you.”
“Then protect me without starting a war in the middle of a village.”
Seger’s mouth tightened.
Dravic looked toward the people of Thorskaill once more. “They are afraid of us.”
“They do not look afraid.”
“Fear is always recognizable.”
Seger followed his gaze.
Dravic’s attention settled on a woman ushering two children inside while her husband remained outside watching the warriors.
“These people will have a choice soon enough. Scotara or Tharne.”
“They belong to Scotara,” Seger said as if that was answer enough.
“That does not mean they will fight for it.”
Seger went silent.
Dravic looked toward Merek disappearing between the cottages.
“And if I cannot give them a reason to choose Scotara, then I have failed them as their king long before Tharne ever reaches our shores.”
Merek had not gone far when he stopped and looked back at the king.
“The cottage is this way.”
Dravic dismounted and reached for Adira. His hands settled around her waist, and he lifted her from the horse, lowering her slowly to the ground.
She smiled when her feet touched the snow, relieved that the soreness from earlier had eased considerably.
His hands remained at her waist. He needed to speak with Merek and see what the man could tell him, and yet? He wanted to be alone with Adira, in the quiet they shared, and take her in his arms and for a while, just a small while, forget he was king.
Adira tapped at his hand to get his attention. His focus elsewhere, and she cast a quick glance to the side.
Dravic let his musings behind and followed her glance. Several villagers were watching them with much curiosity. He released her reluctantly and looked forward to the time they could be alone.
He handed the reins to one of his warriors and motioned for Adira to walk beside him before following Merek.
Thorskaill looked different from any village Dravic had ever visited. Not simply because of the strange lights hovering along the paths or the green vines clinging stubbornly to cottages despite the bitter cold. It was the ease with which the people lived among things that should not have been possible.
A woman stood beside a frozen water trough, her hand resting lightly upon its rim. Dravic watched a thin crack spread across the ice. It widened without the woman striking it until the frozen surface broke apart and disappeared beneath the water.