FOR HER, HE WILL SET EVERY KINGDOM ON FIRE.
Kyron LeFur never wanted to be king. He may have united a torn people and ended a bloody war, but none of that matters without his queen. She sacrificed her crown for him, and now he will stop at nothing t...
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I slide of out the room of fawning women, an overbearing wedding planner, and a stone-faced Borin and into the hallway of the sanctuary. As soon as the door closes behind me, I let out a relieved breath. We've spent two hours stuffed in a gathering room with flowers, fabric samples, and ideas for seating charts. If I had it my way, Raelle and I would sneak off into the nearest village where a Sibyl would be waiting, and we'd say our vows with no one else there. But I've been informed by Borin, more than once, that my plan lacks a sense of community. Apparently, that is something a king should cultivate, especially with his own wedding.
It isn't so much the wedding that has me on edge as it is the task I must preform tomorrow. Ashavee is bringing one of her subjects for judgement. She says they aren't falling in line with her rule and are still doing business with the Outlanders after she cut ties with them. The stolen goods the Outlanders took were from an Esspress ship and resulted in the death of three crew members. She is asking for a severe sentence for the transgression—the removal of their ability to shift.
I agree with the punishment Ashavee has chosen. It is fair for the Allaji's defiance and for the death that came from it. I plan to make their power dormant for thirty years, ten years for each life lost. Issuing and executing the sentence will be a first for me. Tomorrow I will hold the Imperium without Raelle and put the offender's power to sleep.
I walk into the great hall of the Lucent sanctuary. It is so different from the opulence that is found in Stigian. There are no painted ceilings or water that pours through the wall into a pool. The dais is smaller. The ivory thrones less ostentatious. But the holy place is no less beautiful.
The glass ceiling is covered in pink and white blooming vines and everything from the floor to the rows of pews is an immaculate ivory. Twin arched windows stand tall behind the dais and in between them is a round window with a ten-petalled flower etched in stained glass. It was weeks after living in the Lucent palace that I noticed what the symbol was—the Eporri. The stone Micah thought would help bring his people freedom, so precious that he embedded it in the leg of his heir. He had the beginning of the story figured out, but I don't think he had a clue how it would all end.
I had no clue how it would all end.
"I pledge my loyalty to the crown and my life to Pliris." The small voice echoes off the high ceilings, like a tiny haunting spirit.
I glance around the great hall finding nothing but the gentle sway of my red and silver banners hanging from the rafters. With light feet, I ease around the first pew. Kneeling in the aisle at the base of the dais is a small figure. Her head of unruly red hair is bowed, and she hold a sword by the hilt with the blade pointed into the ground. The posture is one that many took at the foot of my throne the days after the war.
I slide my hands into my pockets and move closer. "Aren't you supposed to be at your studies, short stack?"
Ansley scurries to her feet with her cheeks burning pink and holds her sword behind her back. "I told my tutor that I needed some time for prayer."
