FAZER 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
XanderI lean against one of Solberg Castle’s parapets, watching staff members scurry back and forth below. They carry straw targets onto an archery field, construct brightly colored stands, and string flags from tree to tree.Next to me, Father shakes his head. “King Kieran says this tourney will d
XanderLukewarm night air whispers through my private garden. One of the many strange things about Dun’s Crossing is how far off they seemed to keep the natural world. Buildings cover all the land within their walls, or they have flattened it into fields. I appreciate they went to the trouble of all
FinnMorning comes faster than I expect. Last night, it was… I don’t have the words to describe it. I thought it would last forever, away from sunlight and anybody else’s opinions. A hangover clusters at my temples, informing me the Haze’s effects only chase those off if you spend it alone. Memories
XanderI pry open the shutters on my room with my fingernails, wood splintering. My neck burns, as it has since I left Finn standing in the tent.Why did it have to be Finn? Why couldn’t it be some boy from this tiny waystation I would never see again, or some lesser noble I could intimidate into si







