A Vow So Bold and Deadly (Cursebreakers, #3)

by Brigid Kemmerer

“I don’t want to be a pawn,” I say tightly. “That dress made me look like one.” “I rather doubt it.” He probably means it like a compliment, but it feels dismissive. “It made me feel like one.” I swallow, and my throat is tight. “So I asked Freya to find me another one.” He inhales, and I add, “Don’t take it out on her either.” He doesn’t flinch from my gaze. “I have done nothing to your friends, my lady. And I would never hold them accountable for your actions.” “Is that a threat?” I demand. He blinks, startled. “What? No. I do not—” “Because Grey spent his life doing everything you asked, and the first time he didn’t, you strung him up on that wall.”

PERIOD FUCKING TELL HIM

My heart is still in my throat. “What is wrong with you?” He doesn’t look any happier to be here than I am. “His Highness ordered me to keep you on the castle grounds.” OH, DID HE.

fuck him up harper

He strokes a tear off my cheek. “I should have told you.” And I should have asked. I should have known. I sniff. “You—you needed to do it. And I would have stopped you.” “No. You would have helped me find a better way.” His eyes don’t leave mine. “You always help me find a better way.”

ok jokes maybe rhen is back in my good books

Harper startles awake, slapping a palm to her cheek. Her breathing is quick and rapid. “Rhen. What—who—you.” She goes very still in my arms. “Yes. Me.” Lilith’s eyes flash with danger in the darkness, and she hisses the words like a snake. “You weak, broken, worthless little—” Harper launches herself out of my arms, and I realize a moment too late that she’s seized the dagger from my belt. “No!” I cry. I remember the last time she threw a weapon at the enchantress. But Harper doesn’t throw it. She drives the blade right into Lilith’s midsection, throwing her weight into the movement and bringing the enchantress to the floor. Harper kneels on her arm, then wraps the fist of her free hand in Lilith’s hair. She leans down close. “Go ahead,” she whispers. “Take me home. Let’s see how long you live on my side.” Wind swirls through the room, making the candles go out and the flames in the hearth flicker. Lilith is gasping, either from shock or pain. “I will make you pay—” “He’s doing what you want him to do. Did Grey give you that scar? I bet I can make a bigger one.” “Harper.” I can’t breathe. “Harper, please.” Lilith is practically drooling with rage. “I will end you—” “Then do it. Lose the only leverage you have.” Harper leans down closer. “You’re the weak one,” she whispers.

HARPER YOU ARE SO ICONIC RIP THAT BITCH APART

“Fell vale,” says Lia Mara, and I look down. Gentle man. Far from it. I want to fight something into the ground. There’s a part of me that regrets that they already killed her attacker—for reasons that have nothing to do with interrogation. “I don’t feel very gentle right now,” I say. She uses my grip on her hand to pull herself to sitting. I should protest, but before I can, she tucks herself into the circle of my arm, her back against my chest, her head nestled under my chin. She draws my arm into her lap, and I hold her tight and sigh. “See?” she says softly. “Gentle.”

aUuuugghhh THEY ARE SO CUTE

But then I realize her heart is pounding in her chest. Her fingers are gripped tight to the arm I have wrapped around her. She’s not angry. She’s afraid. That steals some of my anger, replacing it with a fierce protectiveness. I brush my lips against her temple. “Fear not,” I say softly, the same words I once spoke to her in Blind Hollow, after a soldier from Emberfall had put a knife to her neck. “No one will touch you again.”

UUGGFHFHFHRHRHF

“I’m glad you’re my ally now,” I say. His eyebrows lift, and I blush, because it sounds so sterile out loud. “I wouldn’t want to face you on a battlefield.” “I wouldn’t want to face you on a battlefield either.” “Liar,” I say, and I’m teasing, yet also serious. “I could never defeat you in battle.” “On the contrary.” He takes my hand and kisses my fingertips. “You know all the ways to make me yield.”

are u shitting my dick rn

I push away from the table and return to stare out the window, resting my fingertips against the icy chill of the frame. The cold is startling and stabilizing, and I take a deep breath. “Go if you must,” I say. “My guards will likely welcome the—” Hands close on my waist, and I gasp. “Shh,” he murmurs, holding me still. His breath touches my hair, the skin of my neck. His hands are always so gentle, but I can feel his strength. My heart gallops along in my chest, but I want to lean into him, to let his arms close around me and capture my thundering pulse. “There will be talk,” he says, his voice low and intent. “Even if I do nothing more than stand guard inside your door while you sleep, your guards and servants will talk. There will be no quelling the rumors.” I think of him on the field, facing Solt, doing what he can to control my soldiers without defying my wish to rule without violence, trying to maintain control without giving the impression that he’s countermanding me. I consider everything Nolla Verin said and wonder if I’ve been crippling everyone around me with my own self-doubt. I’ve spent so much time worrying about what everyone else wants, worrying about how they see me, that I haven’t given a moment’s thought to what I want. “Then let there be talk,” I finally say. “Lia Mara—” “I don’t care.” I turn in his arms and look up at him. “Wait. Do … you?” “It would be difficult for your people to think any less of me.” Grey frowns. “But I do not wish for them to th...

GREY WHO EVEN ARE YOU RN

“You are right, my lady,” Rhen says, his voice soft and resigned. He tosses the dagger onto the table. “As before, the only way to defeat Lilith is not to play.” “You’re going to yield to Grey?” I almost can’t believe I’m saying the words. “I will try for peace.” His eyes flash, a hint of that familiar spark in their depths. He traces a slow finger over my lips. “I am not yielding to Grey. I am yielding to you, Harper. For you.”

AWWWWWWWWWW

I press a hand to his cheek. “For the good of Emberfall.” He smiles. “For the good of—” I silence him with a kiss. It’s gentle and soft and a bare press of my mouth against his, but every cooled nerve ending under my skin sparks a new flame. He makes a low sound in his throat, and then his hands land on my waist. I’m suddenly straddling his knees, my shift and dressing gown spilling down his legs. He pulls me closer, until I’m flush against him, my fingers tangling in his hair. I’m gasping, warmth gathering in my body, but the feel of his mouth on mine is so addictive that I don’t know if we’re slowing down or speeding up. Then his hand finds my thigh beneath the layers of silk, and I suck in a breath. I’m wearing nothing under these gowns, and if his fingers move another inch, that’s not going to be a secret. His mouth lands on my neck, though, and the thumb of his free hand strokes over my breast, and I shudder. But then he stops. His hands venture no farther. He’s breathing against me, his forehead against my neck. The air is suddenly full of hesitation. Uncertainty. Fear. He’s so strong and sure that it takes me by surprise. But I remember why we’ve never gone this far before. My hands disentangle from his shirt, and I wind my arms around his neck, pressing close. I brush my lips against his jaw. At first he doesn’t move, and I realize he’s withdrawing the way he always does. Protecting me. Protecting himself. From memories, from fear, from the very real threat of an e...

ok rhen that was hot

“If you can’t,” I say, breathing away the tears, “I understand. I know—I know times are hard for everyone—” “My lady.” Evalyn puts her hands over mine and squeezes tight. I look up and meet her eyes. “You’ve done so much for us,” she says. “So has the prince. All we have is yours.” “Tell us what you need,” says Coale, his deep voice rumbling. He strokes at his thick beard. “We are well stocked for winter.” I swipe at my eyes. “I need clothes. And a map. And enough food for …” I do some quick calculations, trying to remember all the times Rhen talked about distance and travel time. I have no idea whether this will work, but I have no other options. “Four days. I think. Maybe five.” Evalyn’s eyes widen. “My lady. Are you returning to Disi?” “No.” My tears dry up as hope flares in my chest for the first time. “I’m going to find Grey.”

GO GET GREY TO FUCK UP THAT BITCH

“Are you well?” he says, his voice very low. “I am well.” I pause. “I understand my sister issued an order to have a company sent through the mountain pass.” “We received word of Nolla Verin’s intent,” Grey says. Of course he did. It hasn’t been long, but Grey doesn’t hesitate. He probably already sent women and men to the mountain pass. Then he adds, “I told the captains we will have soldiers readied, but we would wait for the order to come from the queen herself.” I stare at him. I want to throw my arms around his neck. I want to burst into tears.

YESSSS GREY I LOVE U SO MUCH FRRRR

Lilith whispers in my ear. “I cannot believe you thought you would use that silly weapon to attack me. As if I have never encountered steel from Iishellasa.” I shiver and try to jerk free. She leans closer, her breath hot and sickening. “As if I did not hand it to the spy myself.” I suck in a breath.

SHIT THE SWORD IS A FAKE

“I had nothing to do with this. Rhen had nothing to—” She stops short, looking down, and she frowns. “It’s—it’s Chesleigh.” Chesleigh. “The spy?” I demand. “The spy who found the dagger of Iishellasan steel?” Solt is heading toward her, too. “Rhen’s spy was among them? Wake her up. We will question her—” “You can’t,” says Harper, and her voice is flat. She drops to a crouch. “She took two arrows. I’m pretty sure she’s dead.” She glances up at me. “I can’t believe she survived Lilith to bite it here.” Solt and I reach her at the same time. Harper is right—two arrows jut from the woman’s chest. She has dark hair braided tightly to her head, and a scar on her cheek that I’ve seen a hundred times in the Crystal Palace. Solt swears in Syssalah, then draws his sword and plunges it into her chest. Harper jerks back. “Holy crap. She was already dead.” “She deserves worse,” he snaps. “I agree,” I say. My chest is tight with worry. I look at the other soldiers. “Break camp. We need to go.” Harper looks at me. “What’s wrong? Do you know her?” “Her name isn’t Chesleigh. It’s Ellia Maya.” I look over at Jake. “She’s not just a spy. She’s an advisor to the queen.”

OH SHIT

“Had I known you were my brother,” he says, his voice rough and trembling, “I would have forced you to leave on the very first day of her curse.” I shake my head. “Had I known you were my brother, I would have stayed by your side just the same.”

AWWWWWW THE BOYS ARE BACK

“This is foolhardy,” Clanna Sun hisses at me. “Your mother would never have—” “I am not my mother,” I snap at her. “And you will remember your place.” She clamps her mouth shut.

period bitch

Instead, my stomach twists, and I jerk back, slapping a hand over my mouth. “Lia Mara,” he says, alarmed. I inhale to answer, to tell him I’m fine. Instead, I throw up all over his boots. “I’m sorry,” I gasp, mortified. “I’m sorry. I’ve—I’ve been sick with worry—” And then, to my horror, I do it again. “Noah!” Grey calls, and there’s worry in his voice. His hands hold back my hair. “Oh yeah,” says Noah, and his voice isn’t concerned at all. If anything, he sounds amused. “About that.”

BITCH IS SO PREGNANTTTT i’m calling it rn and i called it before

Queen Lia Mara cannot stay away from Syhl Shallow forever. Snow will fall through the mountain pass soon enough, and it’s a hard enough journey in the cold even when one is not pregnant.

CALLED IT

The door creaks at my back, and I know it is Grey. “You were with Rhen very late,” I say without looking up from my paper. “I missed playing cards.” I smile, then dip my pen in the inkpot. “Well, you are—” His hands slide down my shoulders, and he leans in to kiss my neck from behind, and I gasp, then giggle. “You’ve been drinking.” “Perhaps a bit.” His voice is husky. “It smells like more than a bit.” “It’s possible we shattered a bottle.” I turn within the circle of his arms. “What?” I say, but he leans in to kiss me. For a moment it is glorious, because his hands are gentle and his mouth is sure, and he tastes like cinnamon and sugar and something sharper. But then my stomach has other ideas, and I jerk back and slap a hand over my mouth. Grey startles, then smiles, and there is something simultaneously soft yet protective all in that look. “Forgive me,” he says. “It’ll pass,” I say, my voice muffled behind my hand. “Shall I call for some of your tea?” I shake my head and swallow, then close my eyes. I sense more than feel Grey drop to a knee beside me, but then his hand rests over my belly, which has not yet begun to swell and curve with motherhood. He leans in to speak right to my abdomen. “You should be kind to your mother.” I laugh softly—but the nausea suddenly passes. I snap open my eyes. “It worked.” A light sparks in his eyes. “He already knows I will not stand for disobedience.” “Perhaps she simply decided it was time to rest.” He takes my hand. “Ah, yes. And s...

sobbing crying and screaming rn what the fuck dude