The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)

by Carissa Broadbent

I didn’t have anything against her, but I didn’t know her, and I certainly didn’t trust her.

When you’re young, fear is debilitating. Its presence clouds your mind and senses. Now, I had been afraid for so long, so ceaselessly, that it was just another bodily function to regulate—heartbeat, breath, sweat, muscles. Over the years, I’d learned how to hack the physicality of it away from the emotion.

Death isn’t frightening when weighed against an insignificant existence.”

Did I have anyone out there searching for me? I knew the logical answer. Human lives were so fragile. Yet it still didn’t stop the dark corners of my mind from wandering. Wondering where they were. Wondering how they had suffered. Wondering if any of them remembered me.

Before I could stop myself, I spat, “Would you rather I have let myself bleed to death? I needed to act, and I tried to come to you for help and you weren’t there.”

“I’ve lived through some injustices in the last couple of centuries. Seen some fucking travesties. But one of the biggest, Oraya, is that anyone taught you that you should become anything other than exactly what you are.”

“No. Don’t stop.” I unsheathed my other blade. “Fuck them. Don’t let them mock you. Give me a fair fight, and I’ll give you a fair death, Ibrihim.”

His jaw tightened. After a moment, he forced open his shaking fingers and let his bow fall to the ground. When he drew his sword, he could barely support the weight of it. Still, he threw everything he had into those final strikes. I didn’t patronize him. It took me seconds. And when I wrenched him close, when I prepared my killing blow, that one remaining eye met mine, as if looking into a mirror. “I’m glad it was you,” he said, quietly. And I made sure my aim was true as I slid my blade right into his heart.

The priestess led me through the rest of my vows. When it was done, I was married to the King of the Nightborn. I had lost my autonomy, my name, my blood. I had lost my country. But at least I had kept my heart.