Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)

by Pierce Brown

I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war.

I just watched and thought it a shame that he died dancing but without his dancing shoes.

but she could be made from air, from the ether that binds the stars in a patchwork. Not that I’ve ever seen stars.

The Sons think we are mistreated, so they blow things up. It is a pointless tantrum.

Narol’s the best of my brothers,” my father once said. Now he’s just the last.

We grew together, and now are grown. In her eyes, I see my heart. In her breath, I hear my soul. She is my land. She is my kin. My love.

“I live for you,” I say sadly. She kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”

But never has Eo been more beautiful to me than in that moment. In the face of cold power, she is fire. This is the girl who danced through the smoky tav with a mane of red. This is the girl who wove me a wedding band of her own hair. This is the girl who chooses to die for a song of death.

Martyrs, you see, are like bees. Their only power comes in death.

She sits close and cozy, leg touching mine. Close enough for guilt to crawl along my spine.

“You haven’t been sleeping well,” she says. “When do I ever?” “When you slept next to me. You cried out the first week in

“Why, if it isn’t my belly buddy!” Tactus drawls. “Why the limp, my friend?” “Your mother rode me ragged,” Sevro grunts. “Bah, you’d have to stand on your tiptoes to even kiss her chin.” “Wasn’t her chin I was trying to kiss.”

Love and war are two different battlefields. So despite the hunger, I pull away from Mustang.