Crooked Kingdom By Leigh Bardugo Novels & Stories

You came for the record. Elara’s heart dropped. The Ledger of Cinder wasn't a vial of air. It was a book. It was the master list of every soul Korth had ever collected, containing the secret locations of where the bodies were buried and the bloodlines they left behind. If someone had that book, they could find the heirs to every fallen kingdom in the world. They could start a hundred wars with a single page. "The Prince doesn't just want Oakhaven," Elara realized, her voice trembling with anger. "He wants the world."

Upon her entrance, she saw the pile of scrolls on the desk. “Your Majesty, you called for me,” she greeted. King Lawson held the bridge of his nose out of the stress accumulating as he continued to receive reports of attacks on the different borders of their kingdom. He grabbed four scrolls from the pile and handed them to the queen. The queen read the first report from a platoon leader guarding the western border stating that they were constantly receiving attacks from skilled swordsmen of still unknown origin. Putting down the first scroll, she read the next one and the report was also the same.

“Do you know the best thing about this place?” Her eyes fluttered open and she stared at me silently. “This is the Kingdom of rogues,” I smiled a soft smile “That means everyone here has one backstory or another of how they were jousted from their pack. No one is clean. If they are, then their parents or grandparents are not clean.” I interlaced my fingers with hers softly and rubbed my thumb against the back of her palm. “Yet, the kingdom is thriving and we all manage to find love. Even Amari has his own backstory. Don’t you think you should hear it before you judge if he’ll reject you or not?”

She asked herself these questions and then buys portrait collections about Kingdom of Lycaonia by popular artists when she was in her palace some years back. Kingdom of Lycaonia is the only kingdom Leo can never conquer, He has planned for years, Lori remembered how sad she was when she heard how the Kingdom was invaded due to their weak foolish king who almost sold the kingdom in exchange for his life and family's, And a new king came through for them, A king who took the enemy country down and turned it to a colonized state, and how he united his original Kingdom of Luporia and Lycaonia. "Could this king be this Alpha who also saved me ?" Lori gasped in amazement, She has never been surpri

“You heard me. I’m the soon-to-be queen of the central kingdom. Kira Summers… I mean, Arabella Ravaryn. I know Victoria put you up for this, so drop it!” They snapped their teeth louder, growling deeper, like my threats meant nothing. The man threw his head back and howled…long, victorious. The others joined in, the sound shaking the trees. “Luck’s on our side today, brothers,” he shouted over the noise. “Finally, the kingdom pays for what they owe us rogues.” Rogues? Oh God. Like rebels? Outcasts? The dangerous ones everyone whispers about. Is this like their territory? Am I in serious trouble? Real, life-ending trouble?

Noah whispered, “Ace?” “Stay where you are.” Something beeped. Once. Twice. Then every computer screen in the office switched on. A message appeared across all of them. YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST BURIED !!! Noah’s blood ran cold and immediately had a cold feet Ace stepped toward the nearest computer. Another message appeared. NOW THE KINGDOM WILL FALL. Then the screens went black. For several seconds, neither man spoke. Finally Noah whispered, “I officially hate tonight.” Ace pulled out his phone.

“You wore this crown long before you learned how to run.” “Stop it,” I breathed, curling my shaking hands into fists. “You’re not me.” “Oh,” she whispered sweetly. “But I am. The part you buried. The truth you stitched up with borrowed names and small dreams.” I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. My legs felt like lead, glued to the blood-soaked stone. “Do you want to know the truth?” she said softly. I shook my head violently. “NO.” The throne began to crack, splitting down the middle, jagged pieces of bone splitting apart as black vines curled up from the ground, wrapping around it like skeletal fingers.

For years, every kingdom suffered under the regime of tyrant King Elijah. He whipped women, took the men as nothing but drum fetchers. The entire eight kingdoms were under him and he did no good. He was a bad king to his own Kingdom, and a worser one to others. Until six years ago, when he was finally brought down and killed by Lord Alejandro, a child he had undermined so badly. As punishment for him not having a male heir, the Lords took his one and only daughter, Meandra, and declared that she suffers the sins of her father. She’s to serve each kingdom for a year, as a slave nonetheless, tortured and broken just like her father did them.

But the secret side pocket was completely empty. “Looking for this?” Declan asked cheerfully. He reached into his back pocket and slowly pulled out my little faux-leather diary. He waved it in the air like a victorious flag. “I’ve gotta say, Liora, you are a whole lot more interesting than you look. Who knew the quiet little library mouse was harboring such intense, aggressive desires for the campus golden boy?” All the blood drained completely from my face. My lungs stopped working. Declan opened the book to a dog-eared page and cleared his throat. “‘I want him to absolutely ruin me,’” he read aloud, his voice dripping with dark sarcasm. “‘I want his hands bruising my thighs…’”

Leo added and I was stunned. “Especially when there are a lot of parties in the kingdom. Some belong to Lydia, some to Damien and some to my father and other Intel's here and there!” He said and I sighed.