LOGINOn 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
AmvalThe curved blade of Yalim’s dagger gleams in the weak sunlight as he swallows and conjures a bead of ruby blood at the tip. I’ve never killed someone before, much less someone I’ve known as long as this now former palace guard.But he’s left me very little choice.“All right,” he rasps. “I’ll
IngridHana deposits Amval’s body in the large, empty hollow below Moonlight Tower. Right now, there’s no way of knowing whether it’s going to be a dungeon, cellar, or both. The crowd of Soms—two parents, seven remaining siblings—look around at it with tired eyes. Maybe they’re thinking the same thi
Xandra“Alexander,” Father said across miles of mind-link, his voice thin with exhaustion or the unstable magic connecting us. “Alexander, Maris, my time has come.”I’m sure he knew that those words would send me running. They have. My whole body burns as I run, not as bad as it burned just riding o
Another woman shows up—a familiar one. Lieutenant Hana, now one of Finn and Xandra’s chief advisors.“The Luna and Alpha send their regrets,” she says. “May I see?”Kaloni gestures vaguely. The man already kneeling beside Amval looks affronted.“I am already at work here, madame.”“Lieutenant.” She







