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)
Anger marked his words. Anger at the two people who had made that choice for her.
“You possessed magic. You possessed healing. Yet your daughter lived for years unable to hear the world around her and unable to make her own voice heard.” He shot an angry glare at each of them. “Explain.”
Faith took a slow breath and looked to Adira. “I will explain it all.”
“But the explanation belongs to both of us,” Tharne said, keeping his arm around Faith. “It was my magic that did it. But it was Faith who carried the burden of doing it.”
Adira looked between them, finding what they were saying difficult to believe. Both her parents had condemned her to a life of silence.
“When you were born,” Faith said, “your father felt the strength of the magic within you. If nurtured, he feared it would be unlike anything he had ever encountered. So, we decided not to nurture it. But to wait and see and only then do what was necessary to protect you.”
Tharne’s expression tightened. “I knew if it grew that others might sense it, they would come for you. So, I taught your mum a spell that would keep you safe until you were old enough and strong enough to no longer need its protection. Then it would fade away on its own.”
“And when you began to return life to forest animals that had recently died, I knew I had to use the spell, and I did so with a heavy heart. The spell also transformed me into an older woman so no one would ever suspect you were my daughter.”
Dravic heard her but it took a moment to settle in. Adira had brought dead animals back to life. That could only mean one thing, and he did not want to believe it.
“What powers does Adira actually possess?”
Adira was glad she could not speak for she did not want to admit to herself what her parents were about to say.
Fiora suddenly settled herself on Adira’s shoulder and whispered, “I will help you, however you choose.”
Adira nodded, grateful to Fiora for understanding what she was only beginning to realize.
Faith looked from Dravic to her daughter. “Adira is the superior healer you search for.”
A strange hush settled over the hall, almost as if people were afraid to speak, to take a breath.
Then Adira shot to her feet, startling everyone.
The bench scraped sharply across the stone floor as she released Dravic’s hand and hurried from the Great Hall.
He didn’t stop her, but he went after her. He knew where she was going… the forest.
He followed her out of the castle and across the grounds, catching sight of her as she reached the edge of the woods and disappeared among the trees.
Dravic lengthened his stride and caught up with her before she had gone far. When he was a short distance from her, his arm shot out, his hand gripping her arm, and turned her around.
“Enough,” he ordered, not a trace of anger in his voice.
Adira tried to pull free.
He refused to release her. “Look at me.”
She shook her head.
“You will since we will stand right here until you do.”
Her eyes finally lifted to his: confusion, anger, and hurt filled them.
Dravic understood none of what she must be feeling. How could he? In the space of a short time, she had learned that the people she believed lost to her were alive, that the woman who had taken her in was her mother, that a warlord, an enemy of the king, was her father, and that she possessed a remarkable power.
But what he did understand was that all of that changed nothing, and he would make certain she understood it as well.
“All of what was revealed changes nothing between you and me.”
Adira did not understand how that could be possible, and her brow puckered.
“You do not believe me?”
She shrugged, unsure what to believe.
He let go of her arm and took hold of both her hands. “Listen carefully, I did not fall in love with a healer. I did not fall in love with Tharne’s daughter or Faith’s daughter. I fell in love with you.”
Strangely, she could feel his sincerity, the truth to his words and tears began to threaten her eyes.
He brought one of her hands to his chest. “You, the woman who somehow worked her way into my heart without saying a word. The woman who lived in silence yet found reason to smile. And a woman brave enough to challenge a stubborn king.”
A smile fought through the tears that had pooled in her eyes and were just beginning to fall.
“There is the woman I love and intend to wed.”
Adira shook her head.
He laughed, a strong laugh that echoed through the woods. “You can shake your head all you want. You cannot refuse to wed the king.”