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

by Stacia Stark

“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.”

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.”

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

“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.”

The price of love was loss. We all paid it eventually.

Just when I’d thought I could no longer be surprised by the ignorance, foolishness, and poor judgment of men, they continued to prove me wrong.

It was ironic, really—the experiences that came the closest to breaking you were the same experiences that built you into someone new. Surviving one experience meant you were more likely to survive the next. And so it continued, life unfurling in a tapestry of trials.