The Bird and the Sword (The Bird and the Sword Chronicles, #1)

by Amy Harmon

“Your father would cut off me beard if he knew how often ye slip away to commune with the forest! Do you not want poor Boojohni to find true love and happiness? What troll would have me without my beard?” He shuddered in horror.

“You will sit here during negotiations. If your father doesn’t want to see you harmed—if you don’t want to be harmed—you will both cooperate. I would rather not tie you up and drag you behind my horse. But I will. Be still.”

This was the king after all, and if the king wanted to take the daughter of a nobleman in his own kingdom, no one would stop him. They looked more stunned than anything, their eyes lingering on me in confusion. I was not exactly a prize.

He’d been given every word he needed, and every word had been stripped from me. I wanted them back. All of them.

“Would you like to skip ahead to the chapter on disembowelment? This is a bit dry.”

Kjell roared.

why is everyone always roaring

I poked carefully at members of the assembly, testing the limits of my voice. May I serve you, madam? I asked the beautiful ambassador to my left, and without raising her eyes, she declined.

didn’t you just say you were scared they’d kill you for it

He put down his empty goblet with a grimace and reached beneath the table and pinched me, hard.

we’re pinching now??

“But . . . she is . . . a mute!” my father stammered, clearly as stunned as I. “Yes, she is.” The king smiled around the words, and his tone was wry and laced with humor. “A wonderful quality in a woman. She will keep all my secrets.”

:/

Are you ill? “I want you to go back to your room. Now,” he commanded harshly, and he stood, dismissing me, addressing the assembly with complete control.

why is he being mean

“I can’t help but be gentle with her, because she is gentle with me.”

“She isn’t even beautiful, Tiras! She isn’t tall and strong. Bearing your sons will likely kill her.”

lmao I hate men

“You don’t like big breasts and full hips? You don’t like brown skin and thick, dark hair? Since when, Majesty? She is a pale wisp of nothing.” I winced. “She is of use to me, Kjell. Who else can boast the same? I know no other woman who is of any use to me at all.”

ouch

Tiras caught my braid, wrapping it around his hand as he pulled me upright. I slumped against him, and his mouth brushed my ear, gentle even as he demanded more. “Make them fly, Lark. End it.” The sharp tug of his hand in my hair, and the quick burn of my scalp cleared my head enough to wield a final plea.

I…….don’t like him

I stepped around him, but he caught me up, lifting me off the ground, one arm beneath my hips, one braced around my back. He walked back to the thick furs where he slept and laid me down on them. This is not my duty. Or my desire. “It is both,” he responded, his arrogance setting my teeth on edge. NO. “Yes.” Lust is different from desire. There are women who will gladly assuage your lust. I will not. “You want me. I heard it. I feel it.”

I REALLY don’t like him

Yes, Tiras. I will be your queen.

huh

He showed little affection, beyond an occasional smile and a peck to my hand, and I grew stiffer and colder as the day of our marriage approached, wondering if the kisses he’d given me that night in Kilmorda were the last kisses I would receive, wondering for the umpteenth time why he seemed so intent on making me queen.

what is he up to

He wore a tall, gold dome on his head, carved with the ancient symbols of Jeru. The mouth, the hand, the heart, and the eye—the Teller, the Spinner, the Healer, and the Changer.

why