Broken Throne: A Red Queen Collection Novels & Stories

I whispered, though the words were too small for the crime they named. Adolphus laughed from the throne’s edge, but the sound carried strain where certainty used to live. “Forgotten vows do not save queens,” he said. “No,” Rudina answered, turning her fading face toward him with the authority death had failed to steal. “But awakened vows can still break buried thrones.” The red-gold thread under my bond snapped tight. The old feather throne groaned. The shadow child opened both black eyes inside the cradle, and Maelor kicked inside Ashina as if the real child felt the vow awaken.

“Is that what this has all been about? You disrupted my wedding and kidnapped me, bringing me here so you could feel important and rub it in my face that you killed my family.” Sergio didn’t speak. “You let me believe I was nothing. Then you chained me to your side, gave me knives, maps, riddles... like I was a pawn in some twisted game.” He finally stepped forward. “You are simply here as payment for a debt owed to my family... You were never a pawn I chose.” “Then what am I?” she asked bitterly. He looked at her sadly. “You're the queen that was never meant to rise.” ************************************************** Suddenly, the manor’s alarm pierced the quiet.

"Mavric is a man of iron. But iron is brittle. It breaks under enough pressure." "Liora doesn't need a guard. She needs a partner who can match her brilliance." "And by the time I’m done with her... she’ll realize that Thorne is just a temporary distraction." He toasted the screen. "To the Queen. May she find her true King." The first real rival had arrived. And the "Hidden Wife" was about to become the center of a global power struggle. END OF CHAPTER 12..

Golden hair for a golden girl. “The Red Throne is the reason we are at war at all,” Brendan reminds her gently. Somewhere, in between the political fanfare of alliances and betrothals and the attacks, Alcina had forgotten what had sparked it all: the Red Throne. That seat, which would grant the holder the keys to the entirety of The Ethereal Isles land, the House that holds the Red Throne, has historically been the House that would lead the Five Houses and their respective kingdoms. The throne that would rule them all.

To acknowledge it now would be to weaken the fragile balance holding them all together. Trumpets sounded at the gates. What remained of the council approached: Lyra Esthaven, bleeding but unbroken; Maelis Rowan, the seer’s last breath still heavy in her chest; Orren Kaelith, his cloak dark with soot, the guardian who had walked both light and shadow. Each bowed in turn, their voices echoing across the courtyard. “The crown must be bound,” Maelis intoned. Her voice trembled with both exhaustion and awe. “Without the rite, the fire will consume you. The throne does not accept a queen half-claimed.”

But when I wake to find moonlight streaming through windows, the throne still hums beneath me with hungry anticipation. And I know, with the certainty that comes from embracing terrible truths, that it's far too late for redemption. The tyrant queen has been born from the ashes of Luna Blackwood's gentle heart. And she will burn the world to ash before she allows herself to be vulnerable again.

Oh, now I see, you were playing games, trying to make me jealous. "Enough of this, let's sort out the mess at the company first." I passed the bouquet to the bridesmaid and shrugged off Sebastian's grasp. "I'm here for the wedding. You guys can fix your own mess." Sebastian's annoyance was palpable as he looked up sharply. "Is this wedding really more important than our family's legacy? We've both apologized. How long are you going to drag this out?" He sounded so noble, but if he had not let Rosa's antics slide, we would not be in this mess.

She glowed as bright as the angry sun on the hottest day as she walked through the fields of her enemies and cackled in her witchy way as she laid them all to waste. Dreadful and beautiful, the oldest of warlocks bowed down before Tessa in reverence as they witnessed her carnage. The Queen of Ruin returned, and even the devil himself feared her. He squinted through the flames and black smoke as he followed her and her beasts through the field of war-torn bodies until he noticed a familiar form on horseback in the distance. At that moment, he understood what it all meant.

I breathed, more a statement than a question. Aries nodded sharply, letting out another sigh. “How did it happen? And what pack?” Robin asked, stepping forward now. “It was one of the smaller packs located far from here,” Damon said suddenly as he strolled into the room, Raven and Lucian behind him. “They razed the whole pack to the ground without even giving them a chance to fight back,” he added, his jaw clenched. “This is their declaration of war,” I muttered, drawing in a breath. “Seems like they’ve given up on getting on the council peacefully. So, like Manuel said, they have nothing to lose now,” I finished, falling back onto the bed.

For three years, I had trekked back and forth between territories, harvesting rare herbs to stabilize their weak constitutions. And this was the payoff. To my own pups, I was nothing but a "wicked" obstacle. Without a word, I turned and walked away. The villa was quiet when I returned. I opened the wardrobe and stared at the heavy, ornate gowns meant for an Alpha's Luna. I packed one old suitcase with my family's herbal journals. That was everything I packed. Those were mine and had nothing to do with this pack or Julian. When I finally pulled off the Iron Claw wedding band, the cold metal left a stinging ache on my skin.