Shield of Sparrows (Shield of Sparrows, #1)

by Devney Perry

“I saw you in Roslo. On the cliffside.”

“You went into the water with brown hair and emerged with red. And as you hurried into the castle, dripping wet, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Then you were there, in the throne room, your hair dyed again. And I saw in you what I see in myself.”

“I know a thing or two about pretending,” he said. “About leading a dual life and wearing a disguise.”

“Ransom.” My voice wobbled. “Don’t tell me something that will make me hate you.”

“You already hate me, remember?” His hands, warm and strong, settled on my shoulders. “I came to Quentis to sniff out the Gold King. Figure out why he’d hired my warriors to kill a handful of marroweels when I know for damn sure his own soldiers could have done the job. I came to set eyes on the daug...

“I decided to set y...

“Free? You think I’m free? Married to Zavier? You think that claiming me as a bride prize rescued me? I’m wearing twice the shackles I was before. You didn’t set me free. You chained me to two kingdoms instead of one. To a man more interested in his wife’s lady’s maid than. His. Wife.”

“You are not chained to Zavier.”

“Who did you exchange vows with, Odessa?”

“With my blood,” he said. “With my oath spoken.”

“The High Priest knew I had my reasons.”

“Not all of it.” His eyes darkened, shifting to that forest green as he took my arms, keeping me on my feet. Pulling me close and into his chest. “You have always been my queen.”

“I am not long for this realm, Odessa. And when I’m gone, you will be free. Your tie to me will be broken. Your life can be of your choosing.”

“Zavier Ransom Wolfe.

“No,” he shouted. “It was mine. Your father plans to invade Turah. He’s desperate to find Allesaria. And I was always going to have to satisfy the Shield of Sparrows with a union to his daughter. We’ve known for years that he’s been training your sister as a spy. She’s almost as good with throwing knives as Banner. I needed a way to choose a different Sparrow.”

“The weaker daughter.”

“It’s bound to me. It has become a part of my very being. To take it all would be the end.”

“My mother is the daughter of a Turan nobleman from Perris. He amassed an incredible wealth from shipping lumber across Calandra. My grandfather, my father’s father and the king, needed coin. My mother’s father wanted his daughter to be queen. So, he bought my mother a crown she didn’t want to wear. And the first time my parents met was on their wedding day.”

“Father had pinned Mother to the floor and wouldn’t let her go. He kept screaming, ‘You killed him. You fucking killed him.’ No matter how hard I tried to haul him away, he just kept his hands wrapped around her throat. He just kept screaming. Until I took the hilt of that new knife and knocked him on the skull so hard he collapsed.”

“Good. I have no desire to live in Quentis.”

“You are mine.” His hands dove into my hair, fingers threading through my curls. “Even if we are kingdoms apart, you are mine. But I’d rather not be a kingdom apart.” My breath hitched.

“When I am nothing but dust and ash, Turah will endure. I do not need a crown. And I have made peace with my destiny. But before I step into my grave, my choice is you.”

I’d killed that man. I’d taken his life. And his dark-green blood soaked the earth.

“Do you remember the first person you killed?”

“Yes. I was sixteen,” Ransom said. “He was Zavier’s stepfather.”

“I’m still trying to figure it out. I can’t explain it. Yet. But that bite transformed you. There are ten of us who took the elixir, and not a single one has gotten Lyssa. I think the elixir we gave you was the fundamental magic for Lyssa and the bariwolf’s saliva was the missing piece. When it bit you, a bond formed. A bond between man and monster and magic. That day, you both created Lyssa, and it has since morphed in your bodies. The bariwolf continued to spread it as it bit other monsters. Then as they bit others, and so on and so on. In you, it has given you powers beyond that of a normal man.”

“I’ve made a bargain with the Gold King and General Banner.” Ramsey crossed his arms over his chest. “He’ll be taking his fiancée back to Quentis.”

Banner gave a choked laugh. “I am not here for you.”

Brielle appeared at her side, and when she spotted us all, a strangled cry came from her throat. “Banner?” Relief washed over his face as he opened his arms. “Brielle.” She blew past the soldiers and Jocelyn, running for him, hair streaming at her back, legs and arms pumping until she crashed into his chest. “You came for me.” “I promised I’d find a way.”

Banner and Brielle. She was his fiancée? And this was the bargain Banner had made? Jocelyn’s information for Brielle.

“Yes, you do. Don’t forget.”

“Neither will I.” His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I will find you. Here, or in the shades.”

There should have been a monster’s lifeless body in the courtyard. There should have been a winged beast with my sword in its chest. Instead, I’d pulled my sword from this woman’s body. A woman with red hair, the spiraling curls a mix of orange and strawberry and copper. Odessa’s hair. I unsheathed a knife from my belt and sheared off a lock. Then I tucked it into my vest beside Zavier’s circlet. My circlet. I stood, taking one last look at the woman. The crux.