Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 596(@200wpm)___ 477(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Cursing myself and the stupid book, I tossed the quill aside, ignoring the ink splatter across the middle of the page, and slumped low in my chair. Was this my fault? Had I misread the character?
Nylian was supposed to be sex on wheels. Women should be fainting at the sight of him and throwing themselves at him left and right.
Yes, he was sex on wheels. The man was fucking hot. His features were sharp and alluring. That golden hair left you wanting to touch it. When we walked down the street, women everywhere stopped and turned to watch him stroll by.
Fuck, men stopped to gawk at him.
So, it wasn’t a sex appeal thing.
But he wasn’t very flirty.
Yes, he flirted with me, but he didn’t mean that. He flirted with me to annoy me. That wasn’t about attraction or sex.
However, maybe I was the problem. My presence was screwing with the timing of the book. Sitting up, I glanced over the list of names I’d marked off. Half of those he’d never met because I’d forced him to skip entire chunks of the original story. I didn’t understand why he and Adeline hadn’t hit it off, though.
Unless…maybe they were secretly meeting up, and neither of them wanted me to know about it. Could that be it?
Whatever. I threw my hands up and shoved away from the table. Maybe this book wasn’t meant to be an action-adventure, political intrigue epic that included a harem story with lots of sex.
However, there was one big test coming up in Ulmenor. After we got through that section, I’d know whether Nylian was meant to have a harem.
Chapter 15
I Shaved for This?
Nylian had lost his goddamn mind.
When he said that he’d gotten us in on a caravan from Kodra, that should have been an immediate red flag. I should have called a complete halt to the conversation and demanded more details.
But I hadn’t, and now I was standing on the wharf at daybreak in a dress and a veil.
“I’m going to kill you,” I grumbled under my breath as we sidled up to the group of twenty other women in identical floor-length blue dresses with wide, long sleeves. That was at least helpful, as they helped to hide my not-very-feminine hands.
“You should be grateful,” Nylian whispered beside me. “When I stumbled across the caravan driver yesterday, he was in quite a state. It seems four of the women died on the long trek from Kodra through Wolfrest, and he needed an accurate count in order to board the ferry.”
Even with the heavy veil that covered the lower half of my face, I could more than adequately show my horror and shock with only my eyes at that comment.
Nylian rolled his eyes and huffed at me. “You know I don’t mean it like that. I’d never wish death on an innocent person. I’m just saying that fate finally shined her light on us and gave us the opportunity we were searching for to get to Ulmenor.”
Yeah, I got the point. Even if I wasn’t happy about it.
The elf had come knocking on my door at an ungodly hour this morning, ordering me to shave and pack my things. He’d also had a long blue dress in hand, complete with a veil and covering for my hair. Apparently, a nobleman in Kodra was attempting to establish some new trade relations with the kingdom of Galinaes.
“Sadly, Kodra’s idea of the perfect gift is always humans. Gold and gems can buy you an object once, but a human servant can service your needs a million times over a period of decades,” Nylian had explained, his voice dripping with disdain.
If I recalled correctly, Wolfrest and Edros had outlawed slavery and indentured servitude, leaving that for Kodra and Lockeheim, who were very close trading partners. I wasn’t sure about Basden. I’d never gotten around to making many notes about the island country dominated by orcs, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept some human slaves from their raids.
Meanwhile, Galinaes had a twisted mentality, clinging to the claim that they didn’t have slaves, because slavery was wrong. However, they also held the belief that only elves possessed souls. Everyone else was an animal and thus could be owned and used for work like a horse pulling a carriage or an ox in the field, dragging a plow behind it.
“Even under all those layers, you’re an ugly woman,” Adeline whispered loudly behind me.
My hand flew up to flip her off over my shoulder, but my hand remained swallowed under the enormous sleeve so she didn’t see the gesture she wouldn’t have understood in the first place.
Nylian reached over and slapped my arm back down. “Stop your nonsense.”
As far as I could see, all the other women lined up in twos were being quiet and demure, while our rowdy quartet was probably in danger of being whipped. Most of it was my fault, but Adeline wasn’t helping. She’d been snickering and taunting me since we’d arrived in disguise.