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
AmvalI stay at the racetrack until every single joust—each of them less and less well-attended after Ingrid and Kaloni leave—are done. Mostly, I stare blindly at the dirt, replaying the moment of Ingrid’s impact in my mind.Everyone in the crowd knew that was a hard fall. She clearly didn’t know ho
Maybe, if everything goes wrong, he’ll remember that I said that. Maybe he’ll wonder if I wasn’t right all along. Maybe Kaloni can be brought to justice another way.“Is that all?” I stand.“No.” He stands to face me. “I know grief is hard—”I tut. “You already gave me this lecture. The morning afte
Answers pound the drums for my dancing headache, too busy to reach my gasping tongue. I claw at his hand, but the silver holds me back from any real shredding, keeps me weak.With a sneer, Corwyn drops me. “Kaloni is right. It’s better for Lightning Cape that you die here, forgotten.”I gasp in a lu
Kaloni should be letting her rest after a fall like that. Frankly, Tazi shouldn’t have let her out.And yet, she’s here, in a seafoam green gown like she’s trying to match that green stain. My mark aches in sympathy.On her left, at the head of the table, Kaloni eats without hesitation. “The conscri







