Shield of Sparrows (Shield of Sparrows, #1)

by Devney Perry

I wanted to jump. I wanted to dive into that ocean blue. I wanted to be unshackled from everyone’s expectations for just one godsforsaken moment.

Maybe after we were married, he’d stop treating me like a child. Though considering the fifteen-year age difference, I wasn’t holding my breath.

I beg your pardon

The Six crafted predators in the image of Calandra’s animals, though their variations were far more beautiful. Far more powerful. Far more deadly. They birthed monsters to serve as a reminder to humans and animals alike that we were fragile and insignificant.

The Guardian. A man rumored to be more vicious and deadly than any creature crafted by the gods.

The man who entered next didn’t look like a god incarnate. He didn’t appear to be a ghost. He was tall and broad, like the other Turans. Muscled to the point of distraction. His chocolate-brown hair tickled the tops of his shoulders, and his chiseled jaw was covered in a short beard of the same shade. At first glance, he was just a man. Striking. Intimidating. But still, just a man. Yet his irises did not have the typical Turan green starburst. They were solid, molten silver. Liquid metal. Colorless, like my dress. The Guardian.

“Not her.” Margot blinked. “Excuse me?” “Her.” The Guardian’s eyes flicked in my direction, and the whole room followed his gaze. To me. “Prince Zavier will marry her,” he declared. “Tonight. As the bride prize for killing your marroweels.”

“She is your daughter, yes?” the High Priest asked. “Yes.” Father nodded. “Then she will be the prince’s bride for both the Shield of Sparrows and Chain of Sevens.” She. Her. Me.

The magic rooted deep in Calandra’s land tinged our irises at birth with those starbursts, linking us forever to a place. No matter where we lived, where we moved, that one color was unchanging. Every Quentin had an amber starburst. Every Quentin except me. My eyes were solid gold. Not a starburst in sight.

When it landed on me, the corner of his mouth turned up. Smirking ass.

A King cannot kill his Sparrow, and a Sparrow cannot kill her King, either directly or indirectly, without death befalling them both.

It was the exhaustion. The hunger. I was on the brink of an emotional meltdown, and all I could hope for now was that I could have it alone.

A smarter woman would probably have shied away. Taken that sensation as the warning it was to watch her mouth. But I was too tired and too hungry, and this man had crawled under my skin.

I’d learned a long time ago to live without his affection. His love. But damn it, no matter how hard I tried, I wanted his trust. His confidence.

Would I return to my beloved city? Would I ever see my golden castle again? Even if I accomplished this task, if I found the way into Allesaria, I’d never live in Quentis again, would

God this bitch asks so many goddamn questions

Did the Guardian’s powers include sensing moods? Had he felt that I was almost enjoying myself, so he’d come to ruin my happy moment?

“Nice dress.” His gaze raked over my body in slow perusal, head to toe. “Didn’t want to try those clothes I left you this morning?” “You came into my room?” My knuckles turned white as my grip tightened on the ship’s rail. There’d be crescents in the wood from my fingernails before this conversation was finished. “The door was locked.” “Was it? My mistake.”

The last thing I needed was to fall for my husband and let down my guard.

He grinned—not a smile, but it had the makings of one. It was as dangerous as it was attractive.

I’d never once in my life fantasized about killing someone.

Well. Men will do that to you

“No.” I squared my shoulders, using my last shred of strength, and lifted my chin. “I will listen when it’s a matter of safety for myself. For other people. I will do my best to ‘stay the fuck out of the way.’ But I will not bend to your every whim. I will not humiliate myself because you deem me insignificant. If you wanted me to stay quiet, then you should have let that marroweel kill me. I am not one of your warriors to lead. I am not your wife to command. So no, we do not have an understanding.”

“Thank you for saving my life.” Someday, if I had the chance, I’d repay that favor by taking his.

I’d expected a stream of crimson, but the liquid wasn’t red. It was a shade of the darkest green that reminded me of the Voster’s eyes.

Hm

“Are you going to keep stating the obvious today? Because I do have other obligations.”

But where the Guardian was concerned, I couldn’t seem to stifle the snippy comments. What popped into my head came out of my mouth.

“Not all monsters are born from the gods, my queen. Some of us were made.”

“And I insist. You warned me Turah is dangerous. The least you can do is arm me against that danger.”

He was like having a giant, burly shadow. Did this man have nothing else to do but pester me whenever I came up for air? Couldn’t I have a moment of peace?

So what was so wrong with me that no one trusted me? Or was it really a lack of trust? Maybe the heart of the issue was faith. No one believed in me. No one had trust that I was capable.

“Any chance that this is where we’ll part ways?” “Not yet.” The Guardian’s smile was wolfish. Menacing. And not attractive, not in the slightest. “Welcome to Turah, my queen.”

Given his tendency to pop up like an itchy rash, I was certain he was lingering around somewhere.

Yes, he was attractive, but I could not—would not—let a handsome face and body carved from stone distract me from my task.

Well.....i would

And it was time to do what I’d vowed. To earn my father’s trust. To do this duty for my kingdom. To save my people. To find the road to Allesaria.

“Feel free to wander into mine, Princess.” He leaned in closer. “Zavier likes to share.”

I hated fake. I hated lies. So I’d stopped making “friends.”

“Thanks,” I deadpanned. “And I was certain I wouldn’t earn any compliments today.” “Praise is for the bedroom, Cross. Not the training ring.”

I hate you. If he could read my mind, I wanted that at the front. I hate you. A slow grin stretched across his mouth. “There’s my queen.”

A warm bath was waiting. And an apple. I didn’t let myself think about who had likely arranged for them both.

A finger hooked under my chin. I knew whose finger it was before I lifted my eyes. The Guardian crouched before me, still covered in blood. He’d walked to me without a sound, his footsteps as light as feathers. “Are you all right, my queen?”

His eyes were that vivid emerald green. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.

“I’m Cathlin.”

HELLO??? lol

“Clever, my queen.” Yes, it had been clever. A safe space for my secret things. And now the bane of my existence knew I had something to hide. Damn.

LoLlll

The Guardian’s finger hooked under my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Need a moment?”

“I hate you.” “Yes, you do. Don’t forget.”

He was going to cave. When it came to that child, he had no spine. No one did, it seemed. She had all of Treow wrapped around her little finger.

Lol my husband

It was almost as if the city was a myth. A legend. What if Allesaria didn’t exist?

Who would I become if I wasn’t at the mercy of men?

There was a girl inside me who’d once found the courage to jump off a cliffside. That girl had been stifled and smothered. Hidden except for those stolen moments of bravery. It was time to let her stretch her wings and fly.

For a man who swore he didn’t trust me, leaving me alone was asking for trouble. He only had himself to blame for this.

The Guardian stood in the center of my room, his legs planted wide, arms crossed over his chest. A breeze drifted in from the open window. And he was livid. “Hello, my queen.” Well, fuck.

“I didn’t ask to be married to a stranger and shipped across the continent. I didn’t ask to come to Turah. I didn’t ask to be jailed in a wilderness treehouse. Those were decisions made for me by the whims of men. So you can threaten to take away my freedom all you want, but I will fight you. Every step of the way. Until my last breath. And I will not go quietly into a cage.”