The Shadows Between Us

by Tricia Levenseller

They’ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart. And they never will.

I will kill the Shadow King and take his kingdom for myself.

Some say he can command the shadows to do his bidding, that he can use them to kill—choke the life out of his enemies. Others say they’re a shield.

I’m reluctant to stab anyone ever again. Poison is a much cleaner way to kill, and it will prove much easier.

When a man sees something that several other men want, he can’t help but want it, too.

You are perfect, he’d said. Right after not so beautiful as to tempt me.

I handled Hektor as I have handled everything else in my life: alone and with the utmost thoroughness.

Aren’t we all drawn to our friends in the beginning by trifling things? True bonds develop afterward, when character is revealed.”

A woman’s worth is not decided by what’s between her legs but by what is in her mind.

“I battle with my mind. Not weapons.

“It’s not luck,” I say. “It’s careful observation.”

“I can’t call on my shadows.”

I do not like the king. He is a means to an end. And while I will deeply enjoy consummating our marriage, there is nothing else Kallias is useful for.

No one but me is allowed to decide when Kallias Maheras, king of six realms and counting, is going to die.

I wouldn’t have to kill him. He’ll give me everything I want, and I won’t have to get rid of him. My friend and companion.

“I think that when you care enough for someone, you reach a point where it’s far more painful not to have him at all than to have him and risk losing

him. You realize the risk is worth it. Because happiness, however short-lived, is always worth it.”

“The one who’s always wearing black. But tonight she’s in green.”

Really, I just wanted to prove I could write a better one than Eliades.

The Shadow King, it turns out, was well worth the wait.

“There is nothing silly about waiting until you want to. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. It is your body to do with as you will.”

Waiting. Not waiting. One lover. A hundred lovers. There should be no judgment either way. A woman is not defined by what she does or doesn’t do in the bedroom.

We’re all just so happy. I hope it lasts forever.

“Perhaps you should give me a list of the men whose attentions you acquired. For curiosity’s sake, nothing more, of course.”