Rock-A-Bye Baby: A Rhapsodic Gods-vs-Mortals Paranormal Romance with Young Adult Appeal (The Sand Maiden Book 2) by L. R. W. Lee

Author:L. R. W. Lee [Lee, L. R. W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Woodgate Publishing
Published: 2019-08-15T04:00:00+00:00

I tried convincing myself that the Palace of Time was better than the alternative of my bloodthirsty relatives further south. I failed miserably.

Another branch of my family tree with bad fruit, these aunts—Grandfather’s sisters—were reclusive crones as old as time itself, or so I’d been told. I’d never met them, never had occasion to, never wanted to. Everyone respected them, not out of admiration, but out of fear—fear of what they could do to the humans they cared about.

What would they do when we got there? We’d disturb them. Damn! The idea reeked of foolishness, and arriving unannounced, completely out of the question. We weren’t asking for trouble, we begged for it. Maybe that’s exactly what Father hoped. I crossed my arms and held myself but couldn’t stop shaking.

The castle had not yet appeared when we flew into the first gray clouds. They were patchy at first, but grew denser the further we ventured. Fewer and fewer streaks of light penetrated the gloom until the sun abandoned its fight altogether, surrendering to the dark. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was a sign. No, I couldn’t allow my mind to wander there.

I’d been terrified since realizing mares had me surrounded, but the darkness added an ominous feeling. My stomach soured and made it hard to breathe as we flew on.

My mind raced. The more I thought about it, the more certain I became that this wasn’t about me; it was about Kovis. I wanted to cry, to let out a whimper, but I couldn’t indulge my weakness. I needed to be tough for Kovis. His life hung in the balance, and I needed a plan. How could I appeal to my aunts?

I’d be no good to my charge unless I could think and reason. I took several deep breaths and forced myself to let them out slowly. My mind slowed and I began mulling. I’d never approached a crone before. No doubt they’d jump all over me if I showed how scared I was—Kovis would be dead in a heartbeat. I needed to remain calm. But more, I needed to be confident. But what else? How would I convince them to leave him alone?

The thought fled as a towering edifice came into view against the backdrop of dark clouds. It looked nothing like the castles I was used to that spared height in favor of spreading their width across the ground like an overweight firedrake sleeping on its horde. This one was all height, and virtually no width. How it stood I’d no idea, but from a quick estimate it loomed no less than thirty floors tall. I took in the multitude of ornate spires that jutted from irregular, wart-like protrusions bulging from its sides. Spiky. All. The. Way. Up. To its pointy top. And creepy. Like boney fingers.

I swore I heard mournful music as we approached the shadowy courtyard, but only silence greeted us as we set down near the massive tree in the middle and surveyed our surroundings.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.