More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
October 4 - October 5, 2022
if I were prepared to hear him rage about our war with the South Kingdom.
The Braders are nothing more than ruby-covered snakes.
“For you, above all, know how important my sleep is to me.”
Annoying
it’s bordered on three sides by treacherous mountains that make travel in any direction but south impossible.
King Lachlan’s wife has died of the Gray.”
What’s the Gray
“His father is dead,” my father interrupts. “As is the Aeradian girl his son married.
Seems convenient
He has wanted you all his days but was forced to marry another while his father lived.
Terror supposedly lives within these trees.
The Cloaked. Many men and women have since joined and left, but we’re the trio who lead the pack— always. We’ve managed to keep my identity a secret. To anyone outside our close-knit band, I’m just another bandit,
‘Let The Cloaked bandits know I have a rather unorthodox errand and can use their assistance. Tell them that it pays prettier coins than their eyes can imagine and more than their hands can hold,’
This job could very well save Baelliles from destruction.
Tell him the summer has passed nicely but that we’re ready for the cold.” The message is hidden in the wording. Verdana is a barren wasteland, cold and brutal. We are ready for them.
She’s…gorgeous. The kind of beauty that knocks a grown man to his knees. The kind a kingdom would worship.
Once again, I’m a thirteen-year-old child, ensnared by the fawn-like innocence of her eyes and the curiosity that blooms behind them. Oh yes, I remember this feeling.
“Touch you, and it will kill us both,”
“That’s right, Little Sparrow. It’s the man you almost married. Have you missed me?”
“I do not need to see another wretched creation,” my mother frets. “They are giving me the most atrocious headache.”
She sounds like a bit*h
Even though my mother is Verdana’s ruler, and he’s her King consort, my father seems to make the rules.
And above all, bring joy with you wherever you go. Cling to it with all of your might. For fear is the enemy of the Hyland women.”
Ok well now she sounds nice
I gulp. The Crescent Trench of Arborlow. My father tells stories about that trench. It’s why no one travels to the Osinean Kingdom.
But the Prince grabs my hand and sprints down a trail.
So they can touch now so what happened
We’re not to swear on the gods;
“Because the bird found me. It chose me. Not my father or my mother. That’s what I like about her. She doesn't show up for just anyone. She’s very selective.”
“I just hope you don’t fly away,” he whispers.
Twelve years ago, Baelliles started the current war, the latest in the centuries-long conflict that brings our kingdoms nothing but pain. They solidified a barbaric course that no diplomacy could ever change.
My breath hitches as a rolling black mist breaks out from the trees.
see that it’s a sentient shadow, a mist that seeks to devour.
he said that when the gods cast their curse, the Princess rushed Braze and tried to kill him! Right then and there!”
is likely that Idalia was involved in her father's plan, and that she did try to kill me.
inky pall of mist rolls over her and engulfs her in its darkness, then spits out her bloody limbs from its sable mouth.
The black fog. The Obsidian Mist.
She’s a princess who laughs at inappropriate times and when she doesn’t know what else to do.
“Does the curse still count if we roast her up first?”
“I’m finding it extremely difficult to believe you can wipe your own ass.”
We love the banter
I might have if not for my palms beginning to burn. Heat crawled through my limbs when I thought about taking the first step. When I discarded the thought, the heat faded.
It’s the same heat I felt when we were children, in the aviary when I thought Lachlan was hurt.
“Yes, I suggest that. And, oh! Would you look at this! Right here in front of you, a person tied to a tree!”
“Speak like that to her again, and I’ll cut out your tongue,” he says in a low growl.
Her. The reason my kingdom is still at war, and the one who can destroy us all.
The journal warned us of such things. A devil’s mirage, she called them. Evil’s fantasy.”
“You think I care? You swore your premonitions would lead us safely. Tell me, then. How did you not foresee these events unfolding? Are your visions blinded by gruesome crooks?”
“I’ve been waiting for you. I’m Nuri. Welcome to one of the four hells.”
Huh
the heat rises with each step. What is this? Another trick of The Wood? A call from the gods?
What is happening to her lol
The wave of heat pulls me into a hunched position just as a guard swings mightily above my head.
Romance is a dead idea, as empty as a starless sky.
How cynical
When I first saw the Princess, I felt light. I felt awake.
The Aeradians guard it fiercely. No one knows why. It’s pretty, but I’ve never seen a need to make such a big fuss. It’s not that pretty.
I decide that I’ll do whatever I can to make her smile like this more often.
How I wish I could catch her and keep her with me always.
The carriage wheels grate against the stones on the road,
So did they just abandon their horses? After all that?
