A Sword from the Embers (An Heir Comes to Rise, #5)

by Chloe C. Peñaranda

“Promise me this will never change. That no matter what happens in the war to come, you’ll remember that I see you and I hear you. And that I love you, Reylan Arrowood. In every lifetime, I will love you.” Reylan’s eyes closed and didn’t open again as he leaned forward to press his lips to her chest. Then he locked eyes with her to make his promise. “Before bond, title, or name, despite anything that could try to part us, I love you with everything I am, Faythe Ashfyre.” His lips grazed hers. “Until the end of days.”

Samara huffed a humorless laugh. “What would you know of being powerless?” she said. “Your ability is fabled; you are a queen. There are those of us who have to walk in the shadows as though having magick is to have worth.” “That has never been a divide.” “Because you are on the side of privilege and do not see it,” Samara sneered.

“You would be right to fear anyone who has touched death and still walks. Not a simple graze, not with a dangerously slowed heart—I mean true death.”

It’s easy to forget the leaps we’ve taken when the steps forward become so small. But never forget you are still moving.