Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass, #7)

by Sarah J. Maas

And sometimes, he spoke along the bond between them, sending his soul on the wind to wherever she was held captive, entombed. I will find you.

A princess who was to live for a thousand years. Longer. That had been her gift. It was now her curse.

Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom …

Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom … Words she had spoken to a prince. Once—long ago. A prince of ice and wind. A prince who had been hers, and she his. Long before the bond between their souls became known to them. It was upon him that the task of protecting that once-glorious kingdom now fell. The prince whose scent was kissed with pine and snow, the scent of that kingdom she had loved with her heart of wildfire. Even when the dark queen presided over the hunter’s ministrations, the princess thought of him. Held on to his memory as if it were a rock in the raging river.

The dark queen with a spider’s smile

So she told herself the story. The darkness and the flame deep within her whispered it, too, and she sang it back to them. Locked in that coffin hidden on an island within the heart of a river, the princess recited the story, over and over, and let them unleash an eternity of pain upon her body. Once upon a time, in a land long since burned to ash, there lived a young princess who loved her kingdom …