Trial of the Sun Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos, #1)

by Nisha J. Tuli

My stomach is perpetually hollow and my throat dry, like the deepest cave with no source of water. The healing wounds on my back, courtesy of a lashing I received two weeks ago, still ache whenever I move too quickly. They dealt out my punishment when I “accidentally” tipped a hot bowl of soup into the lap of a particularly vicious guard. He deserved it, and I regret nothing. I hope his balls shriveled up and fell off. Today, I feel the suffocating heaviness of every one of the twelve years I’ve spent inside these prison walls. Twelve years for the crime of simply being born. For bearing the taint of a shattered legacy I never asked for or even truly understand.

“You were under strict orders to keep 3452 in your sights at all times.”

“Is that a scar?” She says it like I’ve lifted up my dress and piddled on the floor. I touch my cheek, suddenly self-conscious. I’ve never been ashamed of my scars before. They are a living map of my physical pain, each one earned in the acrimony of my torture. They’re badges of honor. Constant reminders of every moment I survived what so many couldn’t. Of how I’ll keep surviving if I just hold on tight enough.

“Welcome,” says the king with a smile that reveals a set of flawless white teeth. His eyes are bright with warmth. “It’s been over five centuries since Aphelion has had the good fortune of crowning a new queen.” His thoughtful gaze floats to the empty throne at his side before he regards us again.

I cant my head, studying him.

Huh?!?!

“I have no loyalty to The Aurora,” I say with resentment, not sure why I’m telling him this. But I owe The Aurora nothing. It isn’t my home, and it took everything from me. If given the chance, I’d crush the entire kingdom to dust. Atlas’s mouth tips up into a satisfied smile. “Then all the more reason I don’t need to worry.” He studies me over the rim of his glass, his bright aqua eyes boring into me. There’s a look so raw and open, I feel stripped down to my skin. “I also maintain the possibly foolish hope that I will fall in love with my queen and that she, too, will fall in love with me. A Fae’s life can be very long, and longer still if they’re bound to someone they don’t love.”

He tells me of the forgotten realm of Heart and its fallen queen. Its lost Artefact—a crown with a blood-red stone. Her tainted realm is a black stain on the history of Ouranos.

“We’ve been friends since we were girls,” Halo says as we lounge in a circle on a patch of green grass. I lie on my back, my hands on my stomach and my face to the sky, soaking in the warm rays of the sun. “Our families wanted us to enter the Trials, but we never dreamed we both would make it.” Halo and Marici exchange a cautious look I don’t understand.

He’d go prance around with the other court rulers, maintaining this farce as Atlas and his Mirror condemned some unsuspecting female to his eternal servitude. The only way Aphelion’s king could get anyone to bond with him was to trick her into thinking it was some great honor. It was pathetic.

Nadir snorted. These poor girls were so easy to pick out. Who else would be walking around solo? Nadir spied another girl with dark hair down to her waist, flipping it over her shoulder. She scanned the crowd until her gaze met one of the Sun King’s guards. He gave her an imperceptible nod. Her warder, then, Nadir supposed. A moment later, his gaze snagged on another female who walked into the room. Her glittering gold gown floated around her like wisps of honeyed smoke. She stood at the railing, her hands pressed against it, her knuckles white from the pressure. Though her eyes were covered in a golden mask, he marked their curious and assessing spark as she watched the dancers. She seemed both overwhelmed by her surroundings and yet completely grounded. Determined, if the set of her jaw was anything to go by. Nadir narrowed his eyes as he took another sip, only to find his glass was empty. He glanced at the scant contents and then looked up to see the female he’d been watching now talking to a tall male with wavy brown hair. Nadir rolled his eyes at Atlas’s pathetic attempt to appear as one of the crowd. Did he really think he was fooling anyone? He was so arrogant he probably enjoyed everyone pretending they didn’t know who he was.

When he bonded to his queen, he would settle for nothing less than someone who set his blood on fire.

My eyes close and I inhale a deep breath, teeth gritted. “If you think I still want to bond to you after all this, you’re delusional.” “Lor,” he says, lines of tension forming around his eyes. “Bond to Apricia. She makes far more sense. Send me home, Atlas. I don’t want any part of this court. I want to go back.” “What are you saying? You’d go back to that shithole over being bonded to me?” Standing up straight so everyone can hear me, I pin him with the most hostile look I can drag up from my exhausted spirit. “Yes.” His expression shifts, a façade cracking, revealing slivers of darkness underneath the light. That kind patience in his eyes drops away to be replaced by cold blue fire. Ah, so this is it then. Something has always felt off about his words and his affection. I could never quite settle into it. Dazzled by his beauty. Charmed by this entire existence, so at odds with my life in Nostraza, I was blind to everything. I wanted to believe he wanted me for me and not what I could do for him. But I should have known better all along. I was so stupid not to see it. “Well, that’s too fucking bad, Lor,” Atlas whispers, a deadly threat in his voice. “I stole you from the Aurora King, and you are mine.”