Princess of Death (Three Provinces Book 1) by Renee Travis Read Free Book Online Page A

didn’t you just stay in Biri and go live in Ahit Tanti Lake? It is the closest body of water to here.”
    “I do not want to leave my sisters and be a bubbly flowing water creature,” came her soft voice.
    “Ok, this might hurt.” The other Lampades looked thrilled at my words. I could change her but she’d always have a touch of Biri with her. From the knowing look on Ibbi’s face she understood the unspoken.
    I pushed death into the nymph. She screamed as water was sucked from her being and vomited upon the path. Her immortal heart stopped beating and time froze as I killed and reanimated the poor thing. As time sped back up I restarted her heart and watched as all the healthy blue trickled out of her and was replaced by gray tinged skin, and deep purple hair. Within moments a beautiful Death Nymph lay at my feet.
    Her sisters all cried out, unnatural sounds of pleasure and encircled the nymph, pushing me out of the way.
    “Thank you. If you ever need anything again just whisper my name and I will try and come.” Ibbi seemed very grateful.
    “For a price?” I snickered.
    “No. I did not think you would be able to save her, you have given us much more than we gave you.”
    “She will still crave water’s touch, take her occasionally to Siddi River, it is near here, only a few miles.”
    “We will,” and with those words they disappeared back into the forest, back to where they were camping.
    “That was interesting at least,” Nam said.
    “Yes but a waste of time. We’ve lost about twenty minutes,” Ekur grumbled and then he was a bat, flying above us.
    “Watching you do magic makes me desperate to touch you,” Nergal had come up behind me; he kissed the back of my neck, sending shivers all over me.
    “It does?”
    “Yes,” he kissed the sensitive skin of my neck again; when I turned to take him in my arms for some serious lip locking he had already joined Ekur in the sky.
    It did not take us much longer to reach the second P.O.T. It was really very deceiving. Off the Right Road was a well-kept gravel driveway, lined by Dark Pines, not as big as the ones in Tatidu Forest, but still beautifully disturbing. I could hear bird songs and crickets, but it was fake, almost like something had recorded what normal should sound like and played it back.
    “Is the driveway safe, you think?”  Nam asked me.
    “Yes, it’s just another lure, the P.O.T. is the house.”
    I linked my arm in his as we strode down the path, gravel crunching loudly beneath our feet. I wasn’t surprised by what awaited us at the end. I’d seen the house before. You’d think it would have been a crumbling haunted looking place, but it was not. It was a huge plantation and the forces that made it a P.O.T. kept up the maintenance.
    The paint was perfect white and green, every window intact, every bush and blade of grass perfectly trimmed and shaped. I knew from looking inside the clean windows that every piece of furniture was immaculate. The house kept the fires stoked and if you looked in the dining room windows during meal time it set out a huge spread three times a day. It was in constant readiness for guests. And woe if you were the guest that showed up.
    “It should have been burned to the ground after the Horrible Thing.” Nergal spoke up behind me, he placed a hand in mine and all four of us just stared for a few moments.
    “By the time anyone realized the Horrible Thing had left an imprint it was too late.” I countered. Silently I agreed with him, rulers who lived primarily in Biri tended to overlook the Big Bad things that happened anywhere else, hence only one P.O.T. in Biri.
    “I cannot believe what happened here, even if it was centuries before we were born.” Nam said.
    “I know.” Six hundred years ago a prominent Adura noble lived in the house with his wife, four daughters, one son and daughter-in-law. No one knows why but one night he freaked, raped every woman, stabbing the adults and drowning the children