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.”

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.”

“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.”

“With a woman as stubborn as you, threats are all Lorian has.”

“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.”

“Like the ancient trees surrounding us, your love will endure times of storm and serenity, weathering the fiercest winds of adversity, and enjoying the gentle breezes of peace,” Galon said.

“Your love will prevail through times of sun and frost, basking in our warmest, brightest days, and enduring the icy touches of our hardest nights. “And your love will stand strong through drought and abundance, through parched summers and bountiful springs, growing deeper with each passing year.”

He stared intently into my eyes. “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.”

“Finish him, Lorian,” I said. His blade was a blur. And Eadric’s head rolled from his body. Exhausted, I raised my gaze. “As you wish, Your Majesty.” Lorian’s voice echoed over the crowd. He dropped to one knee, bowing his head. And so did everyone else.

“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.”

“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 will be this way for the rest of our lives,” I vowed. “You and me, like this, forever. I’ll never let you go, wildcat.”

Her eyes opened to slits, burning with passion. “You’re mine. And I’m yours. Until the end of time.”