A Crown This Cold and Heavy (Kingdom of Lies, #3)

by Stacia Stark

“I once told you that until you faced up to the reality of your life, you would continue to be a victim to it. And my reality is this—I’m in love with you.”

“I will search every inch of this continent if that is what it takes. I will slaughter anyone who stands in my way. Prisca will live. I will make sure of it.”

“Falling in love with Prisca was the most inconvenient thing to ever happen to me. And if I had never met her, I would have lived a long, empty life.”

“I didn’t need anything before Prisca. I wanted peace on this continent. I wanted our people to be safe. I wanted Regner dead. But I didn’t need anything for myself. I didn’t know I could have anything myself. And then I met her, and for the first time in my long life, I needed.”

Sometimes, I wake from nightmares that you succumbed to the river and I never knew you. My life would have remained dark and cold if that had happened. I would have deserved it.

“I missed you so much, I sometimes thought I’d die from the agony of it.”

“I have a new power,”

“You…what?”

“Do you remember the fae fire I used that time in E...

“...

“It appears that wasn’t a unique ...

“Are ...

“I’ve only been able to use it during times your life has been directly threatened. I need to learn how to wield it without you being in peri...

“I will never leave you willingly,”

I’d never dreamed I would have a mate. After everything I’ve done, I imagined such a gift was reserved for those whose hands weren’t covered in blood. I ignored any signs of our mating—even though all I wanted was you.”

“Why?”

I needed you to choose me, Prisca. Because I would choose you ten thousand times over, every day for the rest of my life.”

“How many more lies, Lorian?”

“There are none,”

“Let me be clear, wildcat. You can take all the time you need to forgive me, but you’re mine. I’ll wait for you to realize tha...

I wouldn’t have to worry that he’d meet his mate one day and look at me with regret. I could keep him.

War made things clear. The threat of losing the people I loved had thrown my priorities into sharp focus.

I’d been certain that love was being willing to give someone up if that was what was best for them. But I was wrong. Love was being willing to fight. It was being willing to stand up and say, It’s you and me, we’re in this together, and gods help anyone who attempts to tear us apart.

“Now hear this—I love you. I’m yours forever. I will never leave you. If you want to take back your kingdom, I’ll be by your side. You want to hide in mine? I’ll be there too. If you want to bring down the barrier and get on a ship to some far-flung continent with new lives and no titles—as just Prisca and Lorian—I’ll make it happen. Just tell me what you want.”

‘Swords may clash in battle, but words shape the destiny of kingdoms.’”

“You don’t have to talk about it today. Or tomorrow. Or three months from now. You don’t even have to talk about it with me. But you won’t spend the rest of your life ignoring what has happened to you, Prisca. Because one day—likely a day you won’t get to pick—you’ll be forced to face it. All that pain you’re hiding away will be as fresh as the day you decided to turn it to rage. And right when you need to be strong the most, that pain will cripple you.”

“I don’t need this from you right now.”

“Did you think my love for you would dull my claws?”

“Now I know exactly what I have to lose. And I ref...

Your heart doesn’t stop beating when you lose someone you love. The world doesn’t end. It just feels like it does.

“In every life, wildcat. No matter what happens, you hold on to that. It’s you and me in every life.”

“How do you control a population? You keep the people poor and uneducated. Tell them the same lie for centuries, and tie that lie to religion. Those people will believe you even when the truth is dancing naked in front of them. Because to believe otherwise would mean their entire world has always been a lie. And that realization is too difficult for most people to take.”

“Listen carefully because I will only say this once. If anyone attempts to take the hourglass from me to give it to Zathrian, I will not hesitate. I will not show mercy. I will kill them without blinking.”

Next to me, Lorian practically glowed with pride. Of course, he wasn’t a good judge of my own morality. My mate still considered murder to be the best solution to most problems.

“I don’t need your apologies. Just stop feeling sorry for yourself. Instead of dwelling on how the people you love are in danger, try turning your attention to how lucky you are to love and be loved by that many people.”

“When bound by blockade’s tightening fist, heed the drifting shadow, else all be lost. To prevail, dance the sails toward the sun.”

“When the land itself repels war and unnatural clouds obscure the sun… When the waves are coerced…and reflection deceives… The Bloodthirsty Prince will die.”

what the fuck

“The Bloodthirsty Prince will die.”

“You’re lying.”

“His death will ignite a rage in you that has never been seen before and will never be seen again.”

The gods thought they could take Lorian from me? From all of us? Let them fucking try.

“Oh gods.”

“It’s Lorian, wildcat.”

I wrapped my hand around her throat, and she tightened around my cock. She liked it when I stole her air. Perhaps because she knew I’d cut off my own hand before I hurt her. And maybe because she liked just ...

when someone is haunted by guilt, nothing anyone else can do or say will scrub that ache from their soul. They have to plunge into that guilt, sink down in it, let it gnaw at their very core. When they finally rise, they’ll either emerge cleansed, having faced and conquered that guilt, or they’ll remain forever shacked by it.”

Death was going to come again and again. Not just throughout this war, but throughout our lives. I had two choices—face it and live a rich, full life, or hide from it and never truly experience the joy and happiness of loving with everything in me. The price of love was loss. We all paid it eventually.

“I fell in love with a woman with a soft heart and a loyal soul.”

Explaining that he should care about the thousands of lives that would be lost would just be a waste of time.