One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, #1)
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Read between October 12 - October 14, 2025
15%
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leaving me alone, bereft, with the dying roses.
17%
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“That’s twice you’ve handed me my ass and run off.”
22%
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“We were all in the garden,” Nya said, following her twin into my room, her corset casting an airy quality to her voice. “You’re the only one who came out with dirt on your dress and brambles in your hair.”
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He watched me, something I could not read flashing in his gray eyes. “No, Miss Spindle,” he said. “I’m not nice at all.”
24%
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King Rowan had all the appearance of a great warrior stationed before his army, not a King at court.
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“It has not been an easy harvest. The Spirit of the Wood’s stranglehold on Blunder continues. Still, let us celebrate the triumphs we’ve achieved in family, in health, and, most importantly, in the trade and use of Providence Cards.”
Maddison Lawrence
Im curious about the other citizens. These people all seem of status.
25%
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But it felt incomplete, my collection yet whole. And so, for the Nightmare… I bartered my soul.
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When the first course was served, excited chatter still sparking through the room, I did not touch it.
Maddison Lawrence
Girls gonna starve to death fr.
27%
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“Good. Now pick your jaw up off the floor and follow me.”
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And while my own ability to absorb Providence Cards
Maddison Lawrence
This would make sense if shed absorbed more than one. At this point its nothing more than a theory.
28%
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THE SCYTHE Be wary the red, Be wary the blade. Be wary the pain, for a price will be paid. Command what you can, Death waits for no man. Be wary the pain, for a price will be paid.
Maddison Lawrence
I love these. So clever and interesting.
28%
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I was getting used to the sound of the lock clicking behind me.
Maddison Lawrence
Literally your 2nd time here how can you be used to anything
29%
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Elm, Jespyr, and Ravyn pulled the Cards from their pockets: the Scythe, the Chalice, and the Nightmare.
Maddison Lawrence
So they do know
32%
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Best stick to the old ways. Which are? Pressing a bloody ear to the door, I should think.
35%
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The Captain of the Destriers had arrived.
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his jaw scraped against my ear. “I’d call an admission of treason exceptionally forthright for one day, Miss Spindle,” he whispered.
39%
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Weariness was king, and I his servant.
39%
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We stopped in the middle
Maddison Lawrence
So is it at the end or the middle? Or did they enter a new hall?
41%
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and I couldn’t take a bite.
Maddison Lawrence
Has she ever eaten
43%
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“Orithe caught the infection as a child. But the King kept him alive for one reason. Orithe’s magic allows him to spot the infection in others.
Maddison Lawrence
Power using the very thing they've outlawed for their own advatage
48%
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There was always something other about the animals the Spirit pretended to be. Their bones were too long—their teeth too jagged. Their eyes too knowing.
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She is magic—balance. Eternal.” The Nightmare whispered behind my eyes, his claws sharp. But the Spirit was neglected, no matter her plea. The Rowans erased her, as they once did to me. But she keeps her own time, and I keep a long score. The tide that comes next will blot out the shore.
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“There are so few of us, Miss Spindle. You are more special than you know. And it pains me to think I might have hurt you. I’m—sorry.”
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I extended my hand. “You’re forgiven. On one condition.” The invisible string tugged the corner of his mouth. “What’s that?” When our hands touched, heat moved into my cheeks. “Call me Elspeth,” I said. “We’re about to commit treason together, after all.”
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“We couldn’t have done it without you.” I gave a mock sweeping bow. “I risk my neck for a chance at your gratitude, Captain.”
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traced the Captain of the Destriers’ face with my eyes, lost in his past—starved for his story.
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“Hauth brutalized him. So one day I just… brought him home. My parents became his parents, my siblings his siblings. He’s wary, untrusting, but he’d die before he’d betray us.”
63%
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Tell them. Tell them the truth. When your children ask, do not lie—do not hide the risk of magic. Children are strongest when their eyes are clear. Only then can they make their own choices. Only then are they truly free. Tell them. Tell them the truth.
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“When my sister suggested I court you at Equinox, I resisted.” I frowned up at him. “Adamantly, as I recall.”
Maddison Lawrence
The pacing of the enemies to lovers has been horrible. Literally b line it there. No banter, hardly any tension, zero internal conflict.
68%
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The sound of his brother’s laugh snapped something in Elm. His green eyes narrowed, prey to predator.
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“Too far, brother. Even for you, this is too far.” The Physicians cowered, offering Elm a wide berth. I pushed through the tightly knit crowd, the Nightmare spurring my steps. I kept my eyes on the boy, who still stood at the tip of Orithe’s brutal claw. Red versus red, the Princes faced off in front of their kingdom.
Maddison Lawrence
This seems like such leap from the heavy importance of secrecy...
73%
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“We can’t afford mistakes, Elm,”
Maddison Lawrence
Literally Elm is right. Elspeth put them all in serious danger.
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Messy, warm—a gentle chaos. The kind of chaos that lived in stark contrast to the stony, controlled Captain of the Destriers.
79%
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Ravyn draped his arm over my shoulders, and
Maddison Lawrence
This motion doesn't feel like it fits for this type of event in this time period
79%
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“And if someone asks what you and the Prince are doing?”
Maddison Lawrence
Is no one going to address the suspicion that two cards stolen so close together would point to the "highwaymen" being one of the elite
81%
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There, waiting on a silver tray, were six goblets of wine.
Maddison Lawrence
Ummmmmm truth serum a worry here orrrr
81%
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the wine more bitter than I’d expected.
Maddison Lawrence
No shit
81%
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The Chalice.
Maddison Lawrence
Kind of annoying how fkn oblivious this group can be.
85%
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“We need to be careful, Ravyn.”
Maddison Lawrence
NO. SHIT. FR?! I NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL COMMITTING TREASON. REALLY.
87%
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Had I known they’d be the last words I’d say to him aloud, I might have chosen them differently.
Maddison Lawrence
Excuse the fuck outta me WHAT
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I continued up the stairwell.
Maddison Lawrence
I've decided Elspeth Spindle is a quite stupid girl.
91%
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When the Shepherd returns, a new day shall ring. Death to the Rowans… “Long live the King.”
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The girl, the King… and the monster they became.