The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills Cycle, #1)

by Nghi Vo

She had a foreigner’s beauty, like a language we do not know how to read.

Her voice was soft and deep, and it felt as if it came from a great distance away.

Hate, however, was reserved for equals, and as far as In-yo was concerned, she had no equals in all the empire.

Being close to her was like being warmed by a bonfire, and I had been cold for a long time.

When I explained it to her, she went silent and turned her face to the wall, still as the sky before a lightning strike.

“Save that anger,” Mai said with a sigh. “Angry mothers raise daughters fierce enough to fight wolves.”