Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“What happened?”
“Rumors spread through the palace is what happened,” Nitsa said, perching on the edge of my bed. “They weren’t walking the grounds hand in hand, but they weren’t hiding it either. More than a few guards watched her slip into his room at night. Anyway, it got back to Sirena. She isn’t so reckless as to announce an engagement that Alexander doesn’t know about, but she made her stake on him clear since they were twelve.
“People were laughing at her. Or so she thought. They were smirking at the fool who thought she tamed the heart of a Damien. Or again”—Nitsa cut me a look—“so she convinced herself. To punish this slight against her, she hid her mother’s priceless pearl necklace in Eliana’s quarters.
“Eliana was sentenced to five years in prison,” Nitsa dropped dully.
“What?” I cried, shooting up. Pain raked across my scalp. “Why— How could she do that?”
“Psychopath. Remember?”
“But she was framed. Didn’t anyone speak up for her? Didn’t Alexander?”
Nitsa eased me back down. “It’s because Alexander spoke up for her that she got five years instead of fifteen. Sirena’s mother wouldn’t hear of it being reduced any less, and she was not only the ‘victim’ but also on the council. There was nothing more he, or I, or her family could do.”
“But if you knew it was Sirena—?”
“I didn’t have proof. One of the maids told Eliana that she saw Sirena slip out of the servant’s hall that night, but all of Sirena’s maids swore up, down, and sideways that she never left her room. Who was the council going to believe?”
“That’s just... evil,” I whispered. “She ruined her life for nothing.”
“Yes, she did.” Nitsa slipped her hand under mine. “Now she’ll try to ruin yours, because whenever your back is turned, Alexander looks at you. Not her.”
Warmth stained my cheeks for no good reason. “No, he doesn’t— I mean, not in a romantic way. Alexander hates me and the feeling is mutual.
“Eliana and Alexander didn’t have feelings for each other either. I told you how that worked out.”
I sighed, sinking into the pillows. “Probably wasn’t a good idea to taunt her about ‘cheating boyfriends’ and their fixation on me.”
She choked. “You said that? Now I understand why you’re bleeding from the head.”
I almost chuckled, but the thought of it rippled torture through my forehead. “I’ll be smarter from now on. Watch my back around her.”
“I will watch your back from now on,” she corrected. “And Tycho. And Theron. And Ionna and Daciana. Sirena is used to everyone skirting her in the halls, keeping their heads down. Sadly for her, we’re not in the imperial palace anymore. They may favor Titans, but a novice is still a novice. With a class fatality rate of forty-seven percent, no one expects us to get out of this place unscathed.”
I studied the deep lines around her eyes, and the hand tightening on mine. “You really hate her, don’t you? Were you and Eliana close?”
“I was close with her brother. He and I...” She ducked her head, flush creeping up her neck. “When she was imprisoned, the entire family was cast from the palace. I haven’t seen Nikolas since.”
“Didn’t he report to the academy?”
If possible, her flush deepened. “No, he... He already did his time in the academy. He was— He is a bit older than me.”
My brows climbed up my forehead, and it did not feel great. Didn’t stop them. “How much is a bit?”
“Not that much. Just six years.”
“He’s twenty-four.” I cried.
“Shh!” Nitsa flapped her hands—head whipping around, scanning the empty room. “It sounds more scandalous than it was. He was a soldier stationed at the palace. That’s how Eliana got the job. At first, all we did was talk about the books I’d catch him sneaking out of the library.
“He was such a gentleman, he refused to act on the feelings growing between us until I was out of the academy. I was the one who snuck into his room the night of my seventeenth birthday and...” Her blush was in full force. “You know.”
“Uhh, no I do not know. Spill it, young lady. I want every sordid detail.”
Nitsa burst out giggling. It made me feel better just for making her do so. “Surely not every detail.”
“Don’t worry. You can rest safe knowing I won’t have a clue what you’re talking about. My knowledge of sex amounts to the pair of dogs I saw rutting by the pier when I was nine.”
She scoffed. “I don’t believe it. You’re so beautiful it makes my eyes hurt. Men must carve your name on their chests for want of seducing you.”
“They do, as it happens. It’s revolting. Explains why I’m still in maidenhood.” That and the twelve-foot monster that brought lots of things to the cave, but suitors were not among them.