Read Sacrifice of the Septimus: Part 2 (Afterlife saga Book 7) for Free Online

Parmida puffed up her red blotchy face as if she would soon run out of air and pass out.
    “That is not possible! What of skin conditions or fungi, they take six months to heal!?” After hearing this it was my turn to look flabbergasted.
    “Little Lamb, do you have any skin problems or fungi growing?” Ranka turned to me and asked. I choked on a snorted laugh and said,
    “No! No I most certainly do not!” Then I folded my arms letting them both know how insulted I was by the idea.
    “Well, that is something at least,” the woman scoffed.
    “I mean what I say odalik, the King will not wait for this one.” Ranka’s last warning was enough to make the woman take this seriously and I could only hope that it meant I wouldn’t be ‘beautified’ for long.
    “Good, I will escort you both down,” Ranka said.
    “That won’t be necessary, I can take it…” Ranka’s hand came up telling Parmida with one motion to stop talking, clearly making Ranka the one in charge here.
    “ I deem i t necessary, as did the King when he declared me her protector and as you know, I do not ever fail in doing my King’s will.” I don’t know how the woman took Ranka’s words of warning but at a guess, I would say as seriously as a heart attack considering how much she had suddenly paled.
    “Very well,” Parmida forced herself to say and quickly moved to the door. Ranka looked back to me for a moment and then around the room as if looking for something. Then she found the garment I had discarded as soon as I had entered the room and walked over to pick it back up.
    “You’d better put this back on.” I frowned but refrained from telling her it was like being dressed for an Arctic expedition when in Florida, because for one Florida didn’t even exist yet and wouldn’t for quite some time and second, I very much doubted Ranka had ever seen snow in the desert! So in the end I did what I was told and pulled up the hood like a Jedi before following her out of the room.
    We walked through long hallways with scalloped arches and down painted tiled steps until reaching the lower levels of the Palace. The woman name d Parmida seemed to be leading us deep below the foundations of the palace until soon it was an endless row of pillar after pillar, reminding me of the Duomo cathedral in Milan. I couldn’t help but smile thinking back to being on its rooftop with Draven’s arms around me as we gazed at the beautiful city around us.  Of course, just one look at the narrow stone walkways that were raised above the underground lake and the surrounding crystal blue water that looked as if it had been filtered it was so clean and I knew it was like nothing I had ever seen before.
    “This place is incredible,” I muttered as I took a moment to turn and look back at its architectural splendour.
    “Come along little lamb, much work to be done!” Parmida said clicking her fingers over her head and Ranka and I exchanged the same look with each other. I don’t know about her thoughts but mine were ‘which one of us is going to slap her first?’.
    In the end neither of us did such a thing but instead we continued to follow her along the marble walkway and to the huge double doors at the end which looked big enough to fit Ragnar carrying Sigurd on his shoulders through without needing to duck. The thought actually made me chuckle and the sound echoed through the massive space making me cover my mouth quickly.
    “What? I giggle when I’m nervous,” I told Ranka who shot me a disapproving look. Then I just shrugged my shoulders and continued on, wondering if we were going to get to the Emerald city before my Dorothy legs gave up on me. It was true that I wasn’t looking forward to this but more a case of being anxious in getting it over with, which was good because when we finally arrived at the massive doors I was more than ready to walk through them.
    Two guards opened the doors and the sight of pure opulence and beauty was everywhere to