Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Also… she’s Amell’s one and only offspring.
Amell explained to me that she called upon him to help her tap into the dark magic she had inside of her blood by virtue of being his daughter. While she became stronger, she wasn’t a match for the sorceress. Amell gave her the Book of Shadows to help in her quest and had never bothered to retrieve it.
I arrive outside the castle gates in the capital city of Kestevayne. It’s guarded by two men dressed in black battle leathers, spears in hand.
“State your business,” one of them says as I approach.
I hand over a scroll Amell gave me, a simple missive directing I be taken to Thalia at once.
The guard reads it and jumps to action. “Follow me, please.”
I don’t know if he knows who or what I am. I wasn’t privy to what Amell wrote but it caused the guard to walk with such haste I practically have to jog to keep step with him.
We enter through huge wooden double doors and walk along stone corridors lined with silk carpets and oil paintings. Up a staircase, down two more halls, and to an antechamber where an older man with frizzy white hair stands with his hands clasped before him. He’s dressed formally in a velvet coat with gold buttons and tailored pants.
The guard hands over the scroll, pivots and leaves.
The old man reads the document, frowning briefly before turning a polite smile as he hands it back to me. “Please stay here while I announce your presence.”
He knocks once and slips in through a door—the throne room, I assume—and I wait patiently for him to return.
It takes no more than a minute before the door opens again and I’m beckoned inside.
Not to a throne room but into a living room filled with plush furniture, thick rugs, and fresh flowers on the tables.
The queen’s quarters?
The elder gentleman, who I assume is a butler, says, “Someone will be with you right away.”
He leaves without a backward glance, but he’s barely out the door when Bastien Dunne enters from another doorway. He’s the commandant of the royal army and the last time I saw him was on his wedding day to Queen Thalia. I’d been sent by Zora to collect Amell to answer for his crimes of interfering with the conflict here in Vyronas. It was almost adorable because Bastien and his brother, Kieran, were thinking to protect Amell from me but bloodshed was averted when the king of the Underworld came without struggle.
As I knew he would.
Bastien frowns as he approaches. “Are you here at the behest of the gods?” he asks, and I can’t say I expected a warmer welcome.
I hold out the scroll. “I was sent by Amell to collect the Book of Shadows.”
Bastien reads it, rubbing his jaw. “Is Amell okay?”
“Fine, and still banished to the Underworld. Thus the reason for my visit.”
“And he needs the book for what?”
I could lie or be vague, but I have nothing to hide. “He’s going to try to use it to get my brother back.”
“Back from where?” Bastien asks.
“Eternal damnation,” I reply.
He opens his mouth, most assuredly to ask what that means, but closes it just as quickly. Instead, he sighs and jerks his head toward the door. “Follow me. We need to find Thalia as she’s the only one who can access the vault where it’s kept.”
“Some type of blood magic keyed only to her?” I guess.
“Actually, it’s in the royal vault that houses all the Clairmont riches. It’s guarded and if anyone tries to get in, orders are to kill with no questions asked.”
That’s sounds like a bright-line rule if I ever heard one. “Even against you?”
Bastien shrugs. “No clue. Never wanted access to it so never asked. But I’m not about to hand the book over. That has to be her decision regardless of that scroll you have asking for it.”
My teeth grind because I hadn’t anticipated Thalia might deny me. Her father was clear in his request for the book but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. If necessary, I’ll take the damn thing and worry about the fallout later. It’s true that Thalia knows how to wield blood magic and has Amell’s powers within her, but she’s no match for a demigod.
No one here is.
We move through the castle to the grounds out back, finding Thalia sitting in the garden reading a book.
Not the book I want though.
Her head lifts as we approach, regard first going to her husband and immediately filled with joy at seeing him. I wonder if Zora will ever look at me that way.
Attention then lands on me as she rises from her chair. Thalia Clairmont Dunne is a stunning woman. She has dark chestnut-colored hair that she wears in a high ponytail and fern-green eyes. It would be hard to peg her as a royal as she’s wearing clothes that are clearly from the First Dimension—jeans, a plaid shirt, and cowboy boots. I know she lived some years in Wyoming while in hiding and apparently likes the fashion.