Song of Sorrows and Fate (The Broken Kingdoms, #9)

by L.J. Andrews

“No, I’m not satisfied,” Valen said. “Now, I have a tender-hearted daughter trying to befriend a boy who’d like to slit my throat.

“Are you going to tell him?” She snorted. “You mean, am I going to tell him that a bleeding heart song is growing between his beloved daughter and a boy from an enemy kingdom? No. I think I will let that path open however it is meant to open.

Hus Rose was promptly decided on as a neutral fortress. It would be a gathering of realms. Here we fought for our folk, our lands, so here we’d gather as one land, every turn, perhaps every two. If Silas had his way, it would be every five.

Simple for now, but Gorm assured every royal house the fortress would be fitted with proper thrones soon enough. I didn’t think any of us cared where we plopped our asses.

was their storyteller. I’d been the one to guide them once, but somewhere along the way we’d switched places. They guided me, taught me, loved me. The fools had already dragged me into their family before discovering the truth, but even more now, they treated me as their own. Like their blood family.

“For a queen of cunning who united us all.”

My folk. My family. They’d fought for me. They’d saved me. Much more than I’d ever saved them.

I would always love my royals for their bold choices, their will to love so fiercely. Without them, I would never have found him.

“This elixir I’ve created will ward the Chasm against you, boy,” Niklas explained.

Everyone but the young royals knew what Erik Bloodsinger had done for Tor.

“The opportunity was taken . . .” Erik said, his crimson eyes flicked toward Torsten before he returned his smug smirk to the Night Folk king. “By other things.” “You must wait ten turns again?

“The Ever will never be at peace with the earth fae. I will never stop, never cease fighting against this realm, until I hold the heart of my father’s killer. Until everything he loves is in the hands of the Ever Kingdom.”

“You leave us no choice. Erik Bloodsinger, you are banished to your kingdom. The wards on the Chasm will be built with your blood. Even if sea folk found a way through in some distant time, you will never be allowed to cross. You, Ever King, are a prisoner in your own realm. A merciful prison, but a prison all the same.”

Every border would be shielded against sea fae. It would take a fierce act of fate to break the guards against the Ever Kingdom.

The distance between realms and royal houses no longer took weeks or crossing seas. Three days, four at most, to reach any realm in the kingdom. We’d be seeing a great deal of the littles through the turns. I’d be seeing a great deal of all my royals until my last breath, and the thought of it added a bit of warmth to my chest.

Rave would always be here, watching the shores that remained nearest to the Chasm of Seas.

Gorm was the resounding voice here, a trusted Captain of the Rave. Raum, Tova, Bard, even Malin’s thieving friend and his family would live in the Row.

“Tell me now is when we finally get to share each day, tell me now is when we share one lifetime together.” Silas’s brow furrowed. He brushed a hand over my cheek, swiping stray hair off my brow. “I swear it, Little Rose. Each morning, each night, every beat of my heart is yours. To the Otherworld.”

He’d been mine since my first breaths, and he would be mine beyond my last.

The sea fae king might feel it a sense of honor to avenge his father, but the same emotions lived in our realms. Alek would feel indebted. Truth be told, Sol and Tor did. They despised how our battle ended with the boy who’d saved Tor as a prisoner in the sea realms.

since Livia and Alek had a love for swimming. Another worry I kept hidden about my girl—she was too drawn to the water. After witnessing her draw to the sea king, it was always a concern.

“Anything that does not include my mouth on your skin, Elise, is the wrong answer.”

they’d taken in Von Grym as their own. He lived amongst the Falkyns, learned the art of elixing from Niklas, despite not having mesmer, and knew how to pick a pocket better than us all.

Gods, I loved this man. He was utterly enraptured by me, by our daughter, and he proved it every sunrise, and every sunset.

While our children celebrated at the fort of Raven Row, the kings and queens went to Kunglig—what Calista and Silas called their palace.

“I’m going to demand all the prints and plans of that damn fort, so I know where to strategically place every bleeding blood fae watcher. In fact, when we arrive to the Row, Bo will be placed on Mira. He’ll track her every move.”

turns since fate gave us a new path, a new chance to live the life we’d dreamed of, and I had reveled in every moment. Every busy word, every deep, pensive thought. I took all of Ari and held it close to my heart.

We’d lost much, but we loved fiercely, and we knew by now, there was nothing we would not do to defend those we loved. We were friends. We were family. We were free.

At long last, through blood and pain and tears, the Broken Kingdoms have reached . . . The End.