The Hundredth Queen (The Hundredth Queen, #1)

by Emily R. King

Snowy mountains tear into the ashen sky, their jagged peaks pearly, like wolverine fangs. Cold winds sting my bare cheeks and exposed hands. The frosty temple courtyard is barren of the other daughters and sisters who reside here. Only my best friend is with me.

I must have done something tremendous in my past lives for the gods to reward me with a friend like her.

They can travel to any Sisterhood temple and claim a ward—to be their servant, courtesan, or wife.

I would rather stay in Samiya and serve the gods than leave and serve a man.

“That may be so, but peace is a choice, Kali. A decision not to be at odds with the world and to accept the gods’ path for you. You can attain no higher peace of mind than doing what the gods would have you do.”

She simply does not know what to do with herself if she is not complaining.

When I close my eyes, tiny lights glow behind my eyelids. Jaya says that they are residual daylight, but I think of them as inner guiding stars.

Every mortal man and woman was created in the likeness of the gods—sky in their lungs, land beneath their feet, fire in their soul, and water in their blood.

I do not understand why the gods have made it so that every woman’s lot in life is to owe her security to a man. Maybe if it were otherwise, we would not put up with them. But is silent obedience our divine role? Or has Tarek undermined the very strength the Sisterhood was built upon? I cannot discern the gods’ will from men’s; the layers of truth are too muddled together.

I press my mouth to his, sealing my name on his lips. His warmth spreads everywhere, dazzling my mind and aching straight down to my toes. My loneliness and my fears peel from me. His arms come around me, tentatively at first, and then they crush me against his hammering heart. I have never felt freer. I lift my hand to his cheek and stroke his jaw, skimming the thick, soft bristles. He groans, a low rumble in his throat, lighting my senses aflame. He is the sun and the stars in my sky. He is my light.

“Let the sky lead me, the land ground me, the fire cleanse me, and the water feed me,”

“We are all half-demon, half-god,” says Brother Shaan. “The demon half being the mortal side that continually errs, and the godly half being the side that strives to improve. In each life, we endeavor to raise our standing and become closer to everlasting perfection.”

Sky in our lungs, land beneath our feet, fire in our souls, and water in our blood.

I absorb my hatred and let it feed me, transforming it into something bigger, meaner, uglier. I will wait.

I may not have found my family, but I have found my people.

“Obedience may be the greatest virtue, but the gods do not expect us to sacrifice what makes us happy,

“Anything can be changed by those who have the courage to blaze their own path.”

“You assume your path and the gods’ path lead you in separate directions. But they are one and the same.”