The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom, #1)

by Danielle L. Jensen

Which of you will be my knife in the dark. Which of you will become queen of Ithicana.” His eyes had all the compassion of one of the scorpions in the desert. “Which of you will fracture Ithicana’s defenses, and, in doing so, allow Maridrina to return to its former glory.”

“I will be the next queen of Ithicana. And I will bring the Bridge Kingdom to its knees.”

“I wanted to see the bit of architecture that was worth the rights to my body. My loyalty. My life.” He recoiled as though she’d slapped him. “The rights to those things are yours to give, not your father’s.”

Ithicana—and its king—bent to nothing and no one. But he bent for her.

“I love you,” he said, his lips grazing against hers. “And I will love you, no matter what the future brings. No matter how hard I need to fight. I will always love you.”

She would fight for him. She would bleed for him. She would die for him.

“It’s yours,” he murmured into her ear. “Ithicana. Everything that I have is yours. To protect. To make better.”