Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars, #1)

by Elizabeth Lim

But I would give up the sun and moon and stars if it meant saving him. Him—the boy with no name and yet a thousand names. The boy whose hands are stained with the blood of stars. The boy I love.

loved my needlework and was happy learning Baba’s trade instead of going out with my brothers. Besides, when Finlei taught me to spar and shoot arrows, I always missed the target. Even though I soaked up Sendo’s fairy tales and ghost stories, I could never tell one of my own. And I always fell for Keton’s pranks, no matter how often my older brothers warned me of them.

“Don’t work so hard you—” “Become the kite that never flies,” I finished for him. “I know.”

“You are meant for more, Maia.” I turned away. “How can I be? I’m not a man.” “If you were, you would have been sent to war. The gods are protecting you.”

and were sharply intelligent—they caught my gaze and held it, as if the bird were studying my features and marking me. I stared back. The hawk’s expression was—almost human.

But there was no way I could accomplish it in the hours remaining. But you can, a voice assured me. My voice, but more confident somehow.

As evening fell, I caught sight of a black hawk soaring across the clouds, a gold ring glinting above its talon. Its yellow eyes, bright as the moon, seemed to watch me. I shut the curtains.

“This contest wearies me. We are craftsmen. We should learn from one another, not cut each other’s throats.”

My heart was fluttering so fast I almost didn’t see Edan’s wink as he followed the emperor out. I shook myself from my trance. There was something strange about Emperor Khanujin. Strange and wonderful, I thought. Or strange and terrible.

He set down the cup. “Which is why I said I’m not sure it suits you,” he said. “You have a remarkable journey ahead of you, Maia. I can see it in your tea leaves.”

“Seize the wind,” I whispered. “Don’t become the kite that never flies.”

“I’m sorry, Maia,” he whispered. It might have meant more to me had I known that this was the first time Edan the Lord Enchanter had ever apologized to anyone.

“One woven with the laughter of the sun,” I whispered. “Another embroidered with the tears of the moon, and lastly, one painted with the blood of the stars.”

I’d begun to understand how his eyes changed color with his mood. Black when he was angry, irises like thunderclouds. Yellow when he used magic—with pupils as round as full moons. Blue when he was calm, like the pale sky above us.

The hawk was Edan.

No! You can’t give up now. Was that my voice or Edan’s?

I wasn’t as mortified as I thought I would be when Edan called me his wife.

Edan wrapped my arm over his shoulder. I couldn’t argue. My heart pounded, and blood rushed to my head when he pressed a gentle kiss on the side of my lips, just missing my mouth.

He drew me close, practically lifting me off my feet, and kissed me.

Not because I needed his silly map or his magic, but because I needed him.

He smiled, seeing the flowers tucked behind my ear; then he cleared his throat. “You accepted them.” “Was I not supposed to?” “A man who wishes to court a woman brings her flowers.” I blushed. “You were a hawk. Besides, there’s no such tradition in A’landi.”

“It is an illusion to assume we choose whom we love. I cannot change how I feel about you. I would move the sun and the moon if it meant being with you. As for my oath…I cannot promise to break it, but I would do everything in my power to make you happy, Maia. That I can promise.”

“I know one thing, Maia Tamarin—being with you makes me happier than I have ever been.”

Above, the stars faded behind the misty sky, and the sun fanned its light upon us. We melted into each other until the dawn slid into dusk, and the sun paled into the moon, and the stars, once lost, became found again.

“In Old A’landan, it does mean little lamb. But in Narat, what I grew up speaking, it means…brightest one.” “Brightest one,” I whispered. The words sang in my heart. “You called me that, even when we’d just met?”

“Will you be able to find your way back?” His grin widened, and I realized I’d shown him a sign that I still cared. “To you, always.”

“You care much for your husband,” he went on. “That is easy for anyone to see. But he cares for you more.” I frowned. “That isn’t—” “True love is selfless,” the old man interrupted. “And I can see you are very young.”

“Make peace with your enchanter. He loves you very much.”

“I love you, too,” I whispered, touching his cheek. It hurt to speak any more loudly—my voice was hoarse with emotion. “And I’ll have you. The sun and moon only see each other one day out of the entire year. Even if it’s an hour or a day—I’d rather be with you for that time than not at all.”

“This is how I choose to be free,” he interrupted gently. “Until I know you are safe from Bandur—and Khanujin—I must find a way to protect you. And when I do, I will come back and take you with me. You are my oath now, Maia Tamarin. And you’ll never be free of me.”

tale of a girl who’d sewn the sun, the moon, and the stars into three dresses, the tale of a girl whom a demon had vowed to possess. It was the tale of a boy, too. A boy who could fly but not swim. A boy with the powers of the gods but the shackles of a slave. A boy who loved me.