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“That is not what they meant,” I whisper at Xaden. “I don’t give a fuck what they meant,”
But if you think I’m going to leave the only woman I’ve ever loved to contract marriage with a woman I do not get along with, then the lack of wisdom is yours, not mine.”
I won’t sacrifice her for three years. Not for a single day.
Amelekis. The only thing our kingdoms ever agreed on was calling it the Continent after the Great War,” Aaric says, finally putting his silverware down after cleaning his plate. “Rather arrogant of us to simply refer to it as the Continent, as though there aren’t others beyond the sea, but we’ve been torn apart by war for so long it’s hard for anyone to think that
eyebrows shoot up, and she blinks rapidly. “Me?” Aaric shakes his head. “No. I’m just here because Halden can’t control his temper
And with the exception of her rather questionable taste in men, I’ve trusted Violet’s wisdom since childhood.”
He kisses her cheek. My gaze moves to Mira’s, and her brow knits. She slides her hand backward on the table,
two lines forming between his brows. I shake my head, then whip out my right and snatch the fork from Aaric’s grip. Cat drops her silverware, and it rattles
hand, and the man slides down the doorframe, his eyes fluttering shut. “For fuck’s sake, you’re supposed to be the civilized
Who you are is not what you did, you're still an innocent
Understanding softens his eyes, and he wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into a quick but gentle hug. “Yeah, I love you, too.”
table, jumping off once he clears Garrick’s head. Then he,
It's you & me, that's my whole world
He draws a blade from his thigh and sets it at Faris’s neck. “Whoa, whoa.” Ridoc walks toward them. “We can’t kill potential allies, even
Faris, pointing to his chair, and to
currently sits next to the window at your parents’ house, where your boys sleep—where she’ll stay until she knows we’re out of range of any weapons
I won’t have only almost gotten Garrick killed,
the crowd, his voice booming through the cone, and the taller one to his right signs. Calixta spreads the cards face down in a long arc across the table. “You will pull the card Zihnal inspires you to choose and receive your gift.”
reminding me of everything we have on the line and every way in which I’m failing. Mira called this
My chest constricts, fighting to contain the full confession that I can only give to him. “I’m not meant to lead. Mira should be in charge, or even Drake. If they won’t, then you.”
To you, I can admit that I'm just too soft for all of it
“I mean it when I say you own my soul. You’re the only place I feel completely like me anymore. You’re not a trigger,”
Tairn cranes his neck forward and growls. “You will not raise your voice to her.”
“She is part of me, as I am of her. You undervalue our connection.”
snaps her wings shut. “I’m just missing a second set of muscles and can’t carry Violet. The elders said it has something to do with the delicate balance of wind resistance and tension on my wing,
“You should be.” The female flexes her claws in the sand. “You failed.” Tairn growls, and this time Andarna doesn’t stop him. “Violet has never failed me,” Andarna argues, thumping her tail against the ground.
“And you”—the male lowers his gaze to Andarna—“our very hope, have handed this human something far more dangerous to wield, haven’t you?”
“You preach peace while only having known its privilege,” Andarna hisses in retort. “You are all a disappointment to me.”
“The world was not ready for you, and though it is no fault of your own, we cannot accept you.” I gasp and clutch Xaden’s hand.
our majority has determined you are irid in scale and name only, Andarna.
“Andarna, no,” I whisper. “You are fierce, and smart, and brave, and loyal. None of this is your fault. You’re perfect.”
“You can still love someone after you let them go. But you have to tell me there’s a line where you will let him go. Because if there isn’t one, it’s not just him we’re going to lose, Vi.”
“Well aware,” Xaden replies. “First because I trust Violet, and second”—he glances at Ridoc in a dismissive once-over—“it wasn’t a big enough strike.”
I think I started falling for you that night in the tree when I watched you with the marked ones, but I began tumbling the day you gave me Tairn’s saddle. You’ll give some self-serving excuse, but the truth is you’re kinder than you want people to know. Maybe kinder than you know. —Recovered Correspondence of Cadet Violet Sorrengail to His Grace, Lieutenant Xaden Riorson, Sixteenth Duke of Tyrrendor
“Maybe I fell for the wrong—” “It would be a shame to kill my last living relative.”
“I fucking love you.”
When things get…shitty, I hope you can look down at it and imagine us sitting there together when this is all over. That’s the vision I’m going to cling to: you and me, holding hands, looking over the city.”
if I was sure we’d have a month, I would have waited.” He narrows his eyes. Oh. When this is over, we should take as much leave as they’ll give us and spend it all in Aretia. We can figure out what life is supposed to look like without the daily threat of death. You can govern the province you love during the day, then slide into bed with me at night. Or I can always join you in the Assembly chamber. You do some of your best work on that throne. —Recovered Correspondence of Cadet Violet Sorrengail to His Grace, Lieutenant Xaden Riorson, Sixteenth Duke of Tyrrendor
to shit. Xaden and I talk most nights through the bond, but he still broodily refuses to spend physical time alone with me. The western line falls back, and dark wielders surge toward Draithus at a daily pace that has me holding my breath
from the doorway of the great hall. “Luceras wants a word regarding mining production.” “You have to accept what I already have,” Xaden says to me. “The man you love no longer fully belongs to himself.” He walks past
t enough. My shoulders slump in defeat as I lean against the wall. “I’m not entirely sure what that was about, but I’ve seen how hard it can be to love someone in power.” Lewellen grimaces sympathetically.
“I can flatten the tip of my tail and boost him,” Andarna offers, having crept closer.
“You can grieve,” I repeat. “And when and if you’re ready to talk about it, I’ll be here.”
“My power, my body, my soul—it’s all yours.”
flinches. “And Ulices—” “In Lewellen,” Xaden finishes. “So neither of the generals of my
“Because you’re first in line!” Xaden clasps the back of his cousin’s neck. “Neither of us have an heir. We’re all there is, Bodhi.
“I love you more than this city. Do not die defending it.”
ahead of us. Everything blurs in the dark. And miles away toward the east, flames erupt in streams of orange…and green. “We are the dark. Drop
sound closer than you should be!” Why won’t she ever stay where she’s supposed to? Tairn rumbles low in his chest, and fire streaks ahead of us. Feirge’s flame outlines the shape of the
“I don’t need you to be anything but who you are.”
You always say that you chose me, but I stood in front of you on that Threshing field. And I would do it again.”
and their high priestess wait at the
The one a few feet from my face hangs in midair, its flame-inspired etched edges suspended by a single black band of shadow. Xaden.
Sticks and stones they throw froze midair
