Feathers So Vicious (Court of Ravens, #1)

by Liv Zander

humming a melody I’d never heard from her lips. “I prayed for you,” she whispered gently between tunes. “You are so perfect.” Another hum. “I love you.” The longer she told him these things—things never spoken to me—the more my legs tingled as if to run once more.

Awww. Thats sad

His bare foot caught on one of the field stones, ripping him to the ground. But he never hit it. Instead, he burst into a flock of one, two… five ravens.

HUH?!!!?

They were wayward beings. Wretched. Corrupted. Vile.

“The prince escaped with that… evil magic of his.” Prince? I eyed the boy. He didn’t look like a prince.

This one was useless in lifting that blasted curse from Valtaris.”

Father rarely spoke to me unless he was pleased with me, and he was never pleased with me.

“Your son lived but a short while, looking content one moment, only for his breaths to fade into silence the next… just like the others.”

“If anybody asks why Tidestone rang the bells this day, let it be known it was because my strong, dutiful daughter, the Lady Galantia, killed a filthy Raven.”

Quite literally. Rather long in the face, this one.”

Lmaooooo "long in the face" is vicioussss

“If a wife cannot speak ill of her husband, then what joys are there left for her in marriage?”

Mother only clenched her lips. Cold. Distant. Silence. How… disappointing.

Lord of Shadows. That name was whispered with fear and worry from the kitchens to the stables.

Two soldiers followed to guard my life, and Risa followed to remind me to guard my damn virtue.

The shadows hid his dirt-smudged face, but not that bright white grin he carried. Not until it disappeared between black feathers as he bit into one of the dead birds.

Im sorry? The child ATE the Raven!!!

“It’s much too small for a raven, so it’s probably quail.”

PROBABLY !!!

A man—a Raven—held a peasant woman with her chest pinned down on a table, his grip tight in her brown hair.

I-

Rivulets of her black magic slithered into the man’s mouth, nose, and eyes until, with a wet smack, his eyes oozed out of their sockets in a gush of blood.

Gruesomeeee...

“Love, you’re too old for a nursemaid. Time to grow up.” She winked at me. Then she stabbed Risa in the neck.

her distorted face. “Please say something…” Why didn’t she answer? My Risa always answered; she never ignored me, never pretended I didn’t exist. Except… Risa was gone. Dead.

Sebian stepped up beside me with a shake on his head and a smirk lining his lips.

Thats random asf

the Raven responsible for slaughter, rape, famine, and war.

You know... When they said that Ravens go around raping folks and causing chaos. I thought it was just rumors that had just spread cause theyre humans and dont like fea or anyone different.

“I…” A gasp cut through my words as his face sunk into the crook of my neck,

Fuck, she looked so fragile. Deliciously vulnerable.

Prince Dormren’s betrothed. Untouched. Untried. So fucking helpless.

Might as well bounce his betrothed on my cock while I waited.

“Until such time, she is to remain untainted, Sebian.” So no bouncing her on my cock, then.

Everyone I’d once vowed to protect was rotting away in graves—if they had graves at all. That was how well I’d done it.

His finger pressed against my darkest hole,

MY DARKEST HOLE?!!!! Someone save me

Now get that damn knife away from me before you accidentally hurt yourself. Only I get to hurt you.”

The blade pressed deeper into my mouth until the warmth in my belly dropped lower, infusing a strange thrill into the terror that throbbed between my legs.

No, this couldn’t be the boy from the dungeons. That boy was dead. I’d killed him!

It smelled like herbs in here, beeswax, and leather. Like him.

“Life marks us all in one way or another.” Sebian dunked the cloth into the water. “The only scars truly ugly are usually the ones on the inside, anyway.”

“You have doubts that your father will agree to this exchange?” Absolutely. “Not in the slightest.”

Angry-red lines came together in the shape of a raven sitting on a skull. He’d carved his sigil into me.

“He… cut your lip. Interesting.” Lick the knife, Galantia.

“To a point I hear the rush of blood in your veins. How your heart beats stronger when I’m close to you. How your breath quickens when I touch you…” another tug on my lip. “…right here.”

“I don’t fear them.” I feared myself. Didn’t trust this wild, vicious blackness inside my chest.

Father had held a speech about how proud he was, having a deathweaver in the Khysal line once more.

Interesting, Deathweaver

I looked down at Naya, but all I saw was her mangled arm poking out from stone. Stone everywhere. Beside me. Around us. On top of her? My stomach heaved.

I whacked myself with both palms, again and again, but… nothing. I couldn’t cry, and I couldn’t cry, and I couldn’t fucking cry! Why not? What was wrong with me?

without my anoa, I will never find my mate. The goddess makes one gift call for the other.”

“Lady Cecilia of the House Taradur. Cici will do. Galantia, correct?” Taken aback by the unexpected presence of another human, I only nodded.

“Aerymel.” A metal so hard and ungiving, weapons made of it never broke, never dulled, yet light as a feather.

Those shadows kill everything—beasts, humans, Ravens. Everything.”

Oh, that fucking bastard… Fury pounded beneath the reddish-brown scabs on my chest that now lay exposed, barely a shred of cloth covering

No, this was definitely no feast of honor. It was a feast of mockery. Mockery, insult, and humiliation,

“For Malyr, of course. After all, he is the prince.” Ha. Ha ha.

The only thing he actually did have was the personality of crotch lice.

CROTCH LICE!!

“Indeed! I’m tempted to start a courting dance right here.” Grinning, he wiggled his shoulders and bobbed his head much like doves did when they walked. “How am I doing?” A smile tugged on the corners of my lips,

Lmaoooo ngllll i kinda likee Sebian, he's funny.