A Queen This Fierce and Deadly (Kingdom of Lies, #4)

by Stacia Stark

“I want you to feel how much I love you. I’ll always be with you, Prisca. It’s you and me.”

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

I bared my teeth and shoved everything I had into defying the laws of nature and the gods.

In every life,...

Her own amber fire burned even brighter. “Change the world, granddaughter. And heal our kingdom.”

“I don’t know what you did,” I ground out. “But you don’t get to leave me here without you. You will fucking come back to me, or I will follow you and drag you back myself.”

“Some fae woman has been handing over creatures from her territory for years. Calls herself a warden or something.”

sneaky traitorous bitch

I’d done it. He was talking and breathing and alive. I’d defied the gods for him. And I would do it a thousand times if I had to.

“She’s right to be ashamed,”

“And disgusted. She warned me over and over that I could never use my power that way. I did it anyway.”

“And I’d do it...

“Listen to me, wildcat. Our story doesn’t end when this life does. You’ll be mine in the next life––and the life after that. If you hadn’t wielded time, I would have waited as long as it took to see you again.”

I was going to fill his life with so much happiness and joy, until I got to see that smile every single day.

But when you kill Regner, someone must take the grimoire. Someone you trust not to be seduced by its power. They must take it and hide it where it will never be found. Or this world and every other world is doomed.”

People who would do this—invade a foreign land for no reason other than they wanted what their neighbors had and felt entitled to it—people who would commit such atrocities and find them entertaining… They deserved any retribution that came their way.

“You think feelings are a weakness. And sometimes, they are. Sometimes, those feelings eat at everything you thought you were. But a life refusing to feel, to love? That is worse than a weakness. That is a travesty. To refuse to feel the full range of emotions, to deny yourself joy in an effort to protect yourself from the loss? I may not know much—may have no true glimpse of the future the way my mother does—but I know without a doubt that one day, the tiny moments of joy you keep turning your back on? They’re the moments that will keep you alive.”

“I vow to be the roots that ground you, the branches that help you reach for your dreams, and the shelter that forever keeps you safe. I will love you in every life.”

Prisca was my wife. She was also my mate. She was my everything.

“You clawed your way under my skin, wildcat.”

“You deserved it. You were so grumpy and mean with your orders and threats.”

“Very s...

“Fine. But then we’re leaving. I’m tired of everyone talking and looking at you. I want you to myself.”

“Possessive man.”

“I don’t think it’s the memories of your life that you see when you die. I think it’s the people you’ll miss the most. The people who made your life worth living. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, you see the one person you would defy the fates and stay for—if you could.”

“It was another way to tie you to me. Another way to make it clear to everyone that you’re mine.”

“Well,”

“Now that is truly s...

“I wanted to tie you to my bed. To look at you and know that for at least that long, you couldn’t leave me, even if you tried. I wanted to make you lose your mind with pleasure, so that when you were finally free, all you would be able to think about was me and the way I felt inside you.”

“Is it any wonder I’m convinced the gods created you just for me?”

“Perhaps the gods created you just for me.”

“They created us for ea...

Spare me from these powerful men and their ancient grudges.

Pride roared through me until I almost shook with it. This woman. She was everything I could ever want. She was so much more than I deserved.

“You left Zathrian alive.”

“It was a mistake. I know it. But I couldn’t seem to kill him. After everything he has done…I was too weak.”

“No. You were merciful. They are very different things.”

“That is the difference between weakness and mercy, wildcat. Even after everything you have seen, and everything that has been done to you, your heart is still so big. You’re still kind. You still see the good in people, no matter how little of it there is.”

“Bravery is a choice. However, you can’t wait until the moment you need to be brave to reach for that bravery. Because if you haven’t been purposefully tending to it, building it up, you may find that it is not there when you need it. You must stoke the fires of courage little by little, day by day, so they are burning bright long before you ever need them. And you fuel or douse those fires—fanning the flames or snuffing them out—with the words you say to yourself. And with the words you allow others to say about you in your presence.”

Now, we have to find a way to move on. To make the best of the lives that were spared.”

“And to cherish every moment.”

“It will be this way for the rest of our lives,”

“You and me, like this, forever. I’ll never let you go, wildcat.”

“You’re mine. And I’m yours. Until the...