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
XandraI roll over in a softer bed than I’ve slept on in weeks and face the first rays of morning sun. Straw still crunches under my cheek. This bed is thicker, but it is made of all the same materials as the thin one Finn and I—My mark sears, and I close my eyes again. Yesterday, I thought somethi
Xandra“He said he couldn’t live without it, Mother.” I lean forward over the breakfast I’ve been picking at. One of the twins—our son, perhaps—apparetly hates the smell of the tiny fish I used to love. “Why did you select Tarrin as your base camp, anyway?”“Proximity to the border.” She sips her te
“Step where I step,” Lieutenant Hana says when Elian lands beside us.He throws her a salute, which she accepts like it’s genuine. I’d rather not shatter the illusion that Elian means anything without a wink, for now.She begins a complex dance across the courtyard. At first, I think she’s stepping
FinnXandra leans on my arm as we duck out of the “palace” and into the blistering sun. As soon as the door shuts behind us, I can’t hold it in anymore. I grin. Xandra laughs when she sees it, leaning on me even more heavily.He took the bait. Denidor is ours—in two weeks, which is what we need to t







