Glow (The Plated Prisoner, #4)

by Raven Kennedy

I thought the gold-touched favored was just that—a favorite royal saddle for him to ride. I was wrong on both counts. I detest being wrong.

🙄 and your still wrong bitch!!!

“We’ve all got a little rotten in us, and I wouldn’t change that for anything. It’s how we’ve survived.”

“You are not weak,” she says firmly. When I start to argue, she goes on. “You don’t have to be cruel to be strong. You don’t have to be mean to seem brave. You don’t have to look down on others in order to stand tall. Having emotions does not mean you’re weak. It means you’re smart enough to let yourself feel.”

She stares at me like I’m her lifeline. Like I’m her only hope of not being torn to shreds. But I will always ground her. I will always remind her of who she is. Because I see her. I always fucking have.

“Even the most powerful people can be made to feel powerless. Finding your strength even when you believe you have none is what makes you a true force.

“You are priceless. You are worth more than gold. And the world owes you so much more than what you’ve been given.”

I’m not even certain how the horses are still alive. It’s not as if we’re in a place Pruinn can forage for food, and I can’t believe he still has barrels of hay for them. This place isn’t just desolate, as parts of Sixth are. It’s sterile, empty. Creepy. And yet, the further we go, the keener Pruinn seems to become.

I'm wondering if Pruinn is fae

“Because we have prayed to the gods for a rightful heir of Orea to help us restore Seventh Kingdom to glory, and they brought us you.”

I remember him telling me that where he was from, it was good luck to put them beneath your pillow when you were ill. And I remembered something similar. Peonies for good health. A willow branch for luck. Cotton stems for prosperity. The fleshy leaf of a jade to bring harmony. And a lotus for resilience. I can’t believe I didn’t think more about this coincidence before. “Where did you say you learned this tradition?” I ask carefully.

I will be a monster if it means I can destroy one.

I am glad that you’re here in this world with me,” I say quietly. His eyes soften. “Oh, Goldfinch. I would’ve found you in whatever world you were in. In whatever life.”

If Slade and his father wielded their magic and tore the world…did someone else do the same? Was I smuggled through some rip that might still exist somewhere in Orea? The thought that another fae could’ve been sold to the flesh market, treated just as I was, makes my heart hurt. And yet, if there are other fae in Orea…where are they?

“One person’s pain doesn’t negate another’s. Our heartaches are not competition, but the bridge to empathy. So that we can look at one another and know that on some level, we understand. That’s one beautiful thing about grief, I think. That sometimes, we can find someone in the world to look at from the other side of the bridge of our torments and know that we are not alone.”

“Seventh Kingdom went from power to ruin. Much like you.” “But together, we can fix both of those things,” Fassa says, dark eyes glinting. “We can restore this kingdom and you to your rightful places. We can help make you the most powerful queen in Orea.”

“Wake up, and don’t smell the flowers, Cold Queen, before it’s too late. You have to find a way to break whatever bargain you’ve made, because at this point, I don’t think your death is going to cut it.”

I have the same feeling about this. definitely something not good and she is being tricked..

I thread my fingers through her own, and I listen. But my song of home doesn’t come from the sun. Mine comes from her.

“You can say something until you’re blue in the face, and it won’t do any good. People rarely change their opinions when they’re argued with. They only tend to listen to the voices of those they already agree with.”

“This isn’t going to be some casual dalliance. This isn’t going to be temporary,” he purrs, reciting his previous words back to me. “I get your soul.”

No one is allowed to threaten what’s mine, because I will not lie down and take it.”