Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked, #1)

by Kerri Maniscalco

A woman with a little power was terrifying to some.

I believe I’m powerful, therefore I am. If I am convinced of my abilities, others will pick up on my confidence. It will give them pause, if only for a second, while they reevaluate a potential threat. Any advantage you can give yourself will be helpful when dealing with my brothers. Their motto will always be ‘know thy enemy.’ Make that difficult. So to answer your question, no, you do not need a spell or charm or trinket of false protection. You need to trust in yourself and your power. Or they will torture and taunt you for eternity.”

“You live by archaic notions of light and dark magic when power is neither good nor bad. It’s intent that really matters.

Fear made monsters of men.

Others would always be out there, trying to knock me down, to tell me who I was or who they thought I should be. People carved words into weapons often, but they only had power if I listened to them instead of trusting in myself.