เข้าสู่ระบบOn a whim, I try to roll him over, not expecting the iron cage of his arms to so much as shift. But he flips easily with a soft noise of surprise. I pull back, worried.“Apologies.” He smiles ruefully and taps the bandage on his face—on the side I rolled him to. “I think this will take some getting
“Oh.” I glance at Amval. Cirocco waits by his shoulder, clearly about to demand something similar. All the pressures of life suddenly descend back into place. With Kaloni dead, Amval has no rival for the crown. There’s going to be a coronation and then months of cleaning up what happened here. I’m g
Ingrid“The Goddess’ will is often far more complicated than any of us can guess,” Halit says, blood streaked on her cheek from the arrow she took to the shoulder before fleeing the altar.Laughter ripples through the temple. I know, from my second march up here, that the healthy hold up the wounded
And that is his mistake. The heartbeat he wastes on gloating gives me just enough time to slash at his unprotected throat, tearing through fur and old scar tissue.Blood waterfalls onto me, hot and fast. I wriggle out of the way before he crumples. Dead.Or at least it seems so. My halved vision mak
Amval“She will never be ready to marry my brother!” I shout as I storm into the packed temple, a sword lifted high above my head and a trail of allies collected from every corner of the palace behind me.Gasps ripple through the crowd, buoying my name forward. Ingrid turns, her jaw falling slack. T
I suck in a breath through my gritted teeth as Halit intones about the complexities of fate, how perhaps Amval dying was all part of Her cosmic plan for Cirocco and I to end up together. Maybe it was part of Her cosmic plan for me to punch a holy woman in the mouth.No. Joli is counting on me. Light
“Exactly.” I strum a chord, starting to get wrapped up in the quick back-and-forth. “Which would be why someone took you away to kill you somewhere else.”“Three deaths, three so-called accidents,” he snarls. “Someone is trying very hard to keep their hands clean.”“And they are clearly not afraid t
“The Goddess alone knows when it is time to take those we love from us,” Halit declares. “In Her infinite wisdom, She recognized this as the time for Prince Amval.”Ingrid goes perfectly taut, like a hose suddenly filled with liquid, and I realize that her behavior has nothing to do with my family a
“Do you smell that?” It’s another voice. Ingrid’s.I freeze just out of sight.“Smell what?” Joli asks.“Is someone cooking?” Ingrid replies. “It smells like… something’s burning.”My heart crawls into my mouth. She can smell me. I got too close—but if she’s going after my baby sister, I’ll risk any
“But everyone knows you play the lute.” I grimace behind the veil at my mistake. “At least, I’ve heard about it on the few occasions I’ve left the palace, so I assume it’s well known.”She laughs, but it sounds tired, perhaps forced. “No, you’re right; everyone knows. I just decided that being happy







