The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms, #1)

by Tasha Suri

She did not want to die. She wanted her crown now. She had politicked for it; played for it and lost for it and nearly died for it. And yet here she was. Alive.

She knew herself. She knew what she was beneath the artifice. But these men did not know her. They looked at her and saw the mother of flame she claimed to be. Some looked at her with calculation, considering her worth and her biddability, the potential benefit of rule beneath a woman of Parijat instead of an imperial son. Some looked at her with real faith burning in their eyes.

She wanted Malini. She wanted the woman who had held a knife to her heart. She wanted only things that would destroy her, and what good would that do anyone?

“Here’s my answer, then. I chose you. I chose—Ashok.” Her voice broke a little. She swallowed. “I choose Ahiranya first. I have to. It lives inside me.”