Two Twisted Crowns (The Shepherd King, #2)

by Rachel Gillig

“Aemmory Percyval Taxus.” He dragged his gauntlets across the sand. “That’s my name.”

“The girl, the King, and the monster they became.”

The journey to the twelfth Card will three barters take. The first comes at water—a dark, mirrored lake. The second begins at the neck of a wood, where you cannot turn back, though truly, you should.” The Nightmare’s gaze shifted to Ravyn. His words came out sharp, as if to draw blood. “The last barter waits in a place with no time. A place of great sorrow and bloodshed and crime. No sword there can save you, no mask hide your face. You’ll return with the Twin Alders… “But you’ll never leave that place.”

“Surely you didn’t think it was sheep I shepherded.”

In the wood, the spindle is slight. A delicate tree against hail, wind, and might. But how the tree carries, and how the roots dig. She weathers all storms, no matter their bite.