“Why?” Zain shakes his head. “No, I think your best bet’s one of the other kingdoms. Things are in flux right now—it’s the perfect chance for a lesser kingdom to strike, especially if they’ve been building strength quietly.”Father strides into sight, pauses slightly, then joins us in the shade.“Bo
CandaceRaven lowers herself into her chair with a grunt that doesn’t dampen the glowing smile on her face. “The calculations are in. Almost twice the area we revitalized yesterday returned today.”Estrella blinks quickly, like she’s warding off tears. “I never dreamt—”“None of us did.” Raven takes
“And if it worked, you and Hollis….”“Would’ve mated.” Her smile turns dreamy.“How does that all work?” I ask, my gaze trained on the pheasant. “Being promised to one another. I thought the Goddess took the reins during the Haze.”She laughs. “I take it your mother didn’t talk to you about it much?
Hollis“No, anchor your fingers at your ear.” I yank Ty’s elbow back until his fingers are at least near his ear. The young noble from Tansy Beach trembles.‘It’s like he’s never lifted a fucking weapon.’ I growl at Zain.‘He probably hasn’t,’ Zain replies. ‘Tansy Beach is weird about human fighting
“…Doesn’t matter,” Rowena is saying. “There is nothing to do. For you. That’s why you’re here, after all.”Candace blows out a sharp breath. “I’m here because I convinced Kieran to allow me to assign your guards.”Thank the Goddess. But I don’t leave my spot. Listening a little longer can’t hurt, no
CandaceI tug Hollis away by the wrist—the least romantic place I could grab him, because even though I assigned all my favorite guards to Mother, I don’t trust anyone enough to actually admit who my mate is—and pray under my breath that he actually was just walking by. If he overheard a single word
“Some self-defense.” He chuckles.“You’re not going to hurt me.” The words taste bitter in my mouth, but I cover them with another kiss.Hollis melts into me. There’s no shake in his arms, no hint that holding me is any strain. He could throw me all around this clearing without breaking a sweat. I c
HollisI storm out of the copse of trees, clenching and unclenching my hands. I have to hit something. There has to be something in this Goddess-forsaken place for me to hit. I march back to the mock-training ground Zain and I slapped together, still empty, but we’ve only finished the fucking archer
Kash frowns. “Then how’d she find out? See a mark?”“In effect.” Hollis stares at the rocky floor.“He’s softening it.” I bite my lip. “We didn’t not pursue as much as we intended to, and she caught us. We made a terrible, selfish mistake that’s caused a lot of problems, and we just want to fix them
Candace“This is a bad idea.” Ingrid crosses her arms and glares at her door, like Hollis is just outside of it.He’s not. He’s in my room, waiting for me to come back after I told him his idea was a bad one and that I needed to get someone else’s opinion first.“Is it a bad idea because it’s Hollis
“Lord Soren,” Candace says numbly. “Where is he?”I grimace at the memory of our return home. Soren greeted the caravan at the gate, redder than Father with rage. His bellowing was hard to follow, threading together fights from their childhodbetween him and Father with ancient slights between our fa
Hollis“Come in?” Candace calls hesitantly through the door of one of the lesser guest rooms.I suck in a deep breath. I can smell her even through the door, blackberries and sunshine. Knocking—rather than just tearing down the door like I wanted to the second Lord Gunnar told Father about the addit
“Coming up!” the driver on the front of the carriage calls.Ingrid presses her face to the window. I try to look and almost end up tumbling into Taner’s lap. But finally, the carriage pulls to a stop, and someone opens the door for us to exit.According to protocol, Kieran exits first, with Taner ri
CandaceWhen the sun rises the next morning, it finds me crouching in the stables, sandwiched between one of Finn’s favorite stallions and Ingrid. It lights the wild grin that’s barely left her face since I barged into her drawing practice yesterday and declared Kieran didn’t control me. She immedia
That leaves me with Kash as company. He likes to walk through the castle with me while I point out places where different things happened. And to eat every meal together. And to spend almost every second that I’m not asleep by my side–making up for lost time, always. By the second day, I’m making up
CandaceI fold dresses into my trunk and listen to the commotion of the rest of the encampment breaking down outside. Kieran decided that letting King Andri cool off would yield the best results, so we’re leaving just as quickly as everybody else. This weird pocket of time with so many people in one
“What?” Ingrid scowls. “You’d think assassinating your own father would be enough to prove that you didn’t agree with him. Throw Mother in the dungeon with Hollis, when we get around to that stage.”Anwen winces.“We’re not throwing Hollis in the dungeon,” Kieran says tightly. “Not least because, in