The Rivaled Crown (The Veiled Kingdom, #3)

by Holly Renee

“Look.” Wren’s hushed whisper caught my attention. I followed her gaze to the brick facade on one of the houses, and I stumbled on the cobblestone as I looked up, high above their door. A rebellion sigil had been painted in stark black against the worn brick. It appeared that someone had tried to scrub it away, fading it in certain areas, but the mark remained. I could feel my heartbeat, hear it rushing in my ears, and I quickly looked away. The rebellion had been raging for decades, a fight that had been happening even before I was born, and the flames of revolution burned bright throughout our people. But I had never witnessed something like this within the capital city. “Keep walking.” I pressed my trembling hand against Wren’s back and pushed her forward as we turned a corner. Her soft gasp filled my ears, and I pushed harder. An older man, whose hair was leeched of color and face lined with years of life, hung from the side of the building. His feet swayed in the air just above our heads, his neck turned unnaturally against the rope that held him, but it was his arm that had fear sinking through me. His left sleeve was rolled up past his withered bicep, and there, just above his wrist, was the same mark that stained the brick. I could feel Wren shaking beneath my hand, feel Kai’s magic as he tried to keep it under control, but none of us stopped. We pushed forward until my grandmother’s house emerged before us.