Consort of Fire (Bound to Fire and Steel, #1)

by Kit Rocha

To the people who dream of a better world. And then fight to make their dreams come true.

All descendants of the mortal kings possessed a measure of magic. It was their claim, the divine right of royal birth. The reason they, and they alone, were fit to rule the people. But never like Sachi—never this much, this hot. This close to the surface. The magic of the mortal kings was a whisper compared to Sachi’s, a glowing ember eclipsed by a wildfire.

The Dragon’s consort will break the Builder’s chains, and the people will dream again.

The Dragon’s consort will break the Builder’s chains, and the people will dream. And you will never be alone again.

It would have been a serious threat, indeed—if Sachi had shared any blood with King Dalvish and his kin. But this priest had no way of knowing the truth: that an orphaned Sachi had been delivered to the capital at the tender age of seven, ready to assume the role of heir and assassin, freeing Dalvish from the constraints of this vow. And, in time, from the Dragon himself.

“My grandmother always told me that the moons were Ayslin and Isere, the lovers who created our world.”

Don’t call me Princess. I am no one—an orphan and an impostor and an assassin. I have lied to you, and I will lie again, because it’s all I know how to do. I was cursed by the royal family, then sent to marry you under false pretenses and kill you in your bed. If I fail to do this by the end of the month, I will die. Not by the hand of the king’s guard, but by magic, right where I stand. If you don’t kill me first. I cannot fail. But you make me want to.

Their lives were so short, and they wasted them so recklessly by making love so small.

“I am not some insecure human boy, to feel threatened by my consort having another lover. If you want each other, then take her. Pleasure her well for me, Zanya. I’ll enjoy feeling her come.”

Children were the only losses that went so against the usual order of things that the pain was incalculable. Almost unimaginable.

“Sometimes you already know who you are, but you were born into a body that does not match your soul. The Phoenix’s flames are rebirth. So when you pass through them, you become who you truly are.”