Shield of Sparrows (Shield of Sparrows, #1)

by Devney Perry

From there, I could slip through a side entrance and climb the stairs to my rooms on the fourth floor. My gray rooms. Mae’s suite was pale blue, for the virginal bride who would soon be married to a prince. Who would fulfill her role in accord with the Calandra trade treaty that kept the five kingdoms at peace. She was the Sparrow. But Mae was far from a sweet, delicate bird. She certainly wouldn’t be a virgin on her wedding night. Funny how the guards never reported her comings and goings, not while she was screwing their captain. I glanced over my shoulder, to the edge of the cliff and the open ocean beyond. What was out there? Mae would find out. After the wedding, she’d set sail to Turah. “Lucky brat.” Not once in my life had I been jealous of Mae. She was Father’s favored daughter. When the time had come for him to choose the Sparrow, it was no shock he’d picked Mae. And she was Margot’s pride and joy. She had a mother while I had a ghost. Still, I’d never envied her, not once. Until now.