Reign of Stars and Fire (The Broken Kingdoms, #8)

by L.J. Andrews

“You must let me go if it puts you at risk, understand? An entire kingdom needs you. Do not risk them for my sake.”

“You have a great deal of power over what becomes of you, but first you must understand this tale of fate if you are to help end it.”

“Many fates align as history repeats,” she whispered, dark and low.

“A foe threatens the present with the vengeance he seeks.”

“Misery awaits within defeat.”

“A falcon’s game for which he plays brightens deep your heart of pain.”

“Dispatch your call.” Oviss winced. “Makers of shadows and mountains, come them all. Patience you need when darkness feeds, lest all thrones fall.”

“A king will rise, but only to his heart’s cries.”

“A caution follows with this tale, should the first bond bre...

“Strike the flesh. Dim the foe. When the moment is right, you will know.”

Send word to the night to reach the sun.

Many fates align as history repeats. A foe threatens the present with the vengeance he seeks.

A foe poisons with vengeance he seeks. Misery awaits within defeat.

“A falcon’s game for which he plays brightens deep your heart of pain. Makers of shadows and mountains, come them all. Patience you need when darkness feeds, lest all thrones fall.”

“Makers of shadows and mountains,” Calista said. “Again, obvious enough we’re talking about the cursed king and shadow king.”

Valen Ferus could bend and break the earth—he could create mountains. Kase Eriksson was not called the Nightrender for nothing. He used darkness and fear to terrorize.

“It’s been a feeling.” Calista stared at her hands. “I even sent your husband and the thieving prince missives about it before all this began. I had . . . a dream, I guess. If my royals from other kingdoms stepped into shadows before I found . . . something, then I saw their thrones burn.”

“Wait.” I tapped the word brightens excitedly with one finger. “This . . . it means Ari. The only way light fills my heart will be if he wakes. A falcon’s game . . . brightens the pain in my heart. It wakes Ari.”

“I didn’t think of a falcon-falcon earlier; I thought of a Falkyn.” “What’s the difference?” “One’s a bird, the other is more criminally inclined.” Like a fist pounded against my heart, I fumbled to take a breath. The Falkyn Guild of the East.

A king will rise, but only to his heart’s cries. Hope swelled in my heart. If it spoke of Ari, then he would wake.

“There you go using all kinds of words like tender and lover that don’t suit the image, Mal.” I kissed her brow, careful not to touch her lips in the morning. I’d learned before food hit her stomach, anything near her mouth and nose had Malin hunched over, retching. I bent over her growing belly and pressed a kiss in the middle. Most knew of our news. Only those in the South were kept in the dark. Malin wanted to wait for the gathering to Gunnar’s vows to surprise the princeling and his star seer.

Two littles. Confirmed by Lynx four weeks ago.

She, the raven fair, grows cold till North winds rise. He, the peasant king, wakes her from the endless night. Hand in hand, band by band, they join a fated fight.

“You were always in her path, even before you existed, Ari.”

“If I am your every sunrise, then you are my every sunset. So you can stop trying to frighten me away, it won’t work. You aren’t cursed, you aren’t my detriment, you are my future. My life.”

But with my menacing wife against my body, there was a heat burning in my heart, a new truth swallowing the darkness, that a life with her love, no matter how short, would be grander than a long, empty existence.

“I vow to you,” I sat up and brushed my lips against her neck, “I will fight to free myself from here. You must promise me you will keep yourself safe, so you’re there when I wake.”

“Queen,” Gorm said, matter-of-factly. “Queen is your title, My Lady. It is one of those titles that does not come and go.”

A loyal heart lost in the dark, misspoken words bring the start.

Eyes closed, safe and sound. Eyes open—found.

“Hidden deep, a blade of old lies in wait for the king to hold.”

“Strike the flesh, dim the foe.”

“Yes, come meet me if you think you’re bold enough. I think you’ve forgotten what it means to stand against me. I’ll remind you soon, little raven.”

“Within a snake’s mouth lies a key to the past. Beyond the gates of stars resides the final task.”

“To be here as one, every thread of fate he has hunted during this long tale is present,”

The beginning of a new story, Ari. A tale of fated paths and the hate desperate to destroy them. Find them, find the bonds, and find those who are still missing.

I’d been the one to give the order for Siverie to slaughter Elise. I’d never told my queen the truth.

“I do not know what I did to deserve your devotion, Malin Strom. But I cherish it.”

“A king will rise to his heart’s cries.”

Her sobs faded in my ears when two strong legs stepped in front of me.

“I have need for you to cease whatever is going on here, wife. I need to see you and touch you, or I will grow rather violent.”

“You are my every sunrise,”

“You are my every sunset,”