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
“For what?”For being her. For not leaving when I had the chance. For ever coming out last night.“For him.”“So it’s true.” Her words are as dull and hollow as the ache of my mark. “Kaloni said, but….”I put a hand on her shoulder. Mother taught me all the right things to say at times like this, ev
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
IngridTrumpets blare outside, and I pray that means we’re finally approaching Som Palace. After almost two days in this Goddess-forsaken trunk, I’m shocked I can still hear them. My lungs hurt. I keep smashing my elbow into the walls—when we go over bumps in the road, so the minder doesn’t notice,
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







