The Rivaled Crown (The Veiled Kingdom, #3)

by Holly Renee

She moved next to me, her shoulders taut, her hands flexing at her sides as if she was moments away from reaching for her dagger. Her head was high, her expression unreadable, but I knew her well enough to see the battle raging beneath her cool exterior. She had fought for this. The moment we left the council chamber, Wren had been there. She had faced the council head-on, yelled at my father before anyone else could speak as she stood in front of me, guarding me from the very people we had always thought would protect us. She had not been allowed to leave the hidden city since they had dragged us back, ever since the ambush, and she was not permitted to visit me at the cells. I hadn’t been able to stop the small smile that curled on my lips when she slammed her finger into my father’s chest and demanded that if he was going to treat her like a prisoner than he should lock her up at my side. Her body had trembled as she had yelled, and I could see the weight she was carrying, the way she had thought she had failed. I had been able to see it in Kai’s eyes as well, when he leaned against the wall and simply allowed Wren to tear into the council, into my father. It had been Liya who finally stopped her, who had told her the plan as Kai wrapped his hands around Wren’s shoulders and pulled her back from our furious father. They would be accompanying me to the palace, accompanying me in saving Verena, and Wren’s eyes slammed into mine when those words slipped past Liya’s lips.