Page 120 of A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash

And then, there she was.

A woman of striking beauty, her bronze skin a canvas of black ink, intricate tattoos curling up her hands, winding like serpents along her arms to her elbows—witch markings, unmistakable in their dark artistry.

And her eyes.

Not brown. Not blue.

But purple.

A mirror of Mal’s own.

The witch regarded them with an air of amusement, as though they had walked intohertrap, as though it was she who had summoned them into this room, not the otherway around.

She exhaled slowly, her lips curling into a half-smile. ‘Well, well,’ she mused. ‘I suppose I ought to applaud.’

Vera noticed the way Mal’s posture stiffened. She had probably expected a disguise, yes. Had probably braced herself for deceit. But the voice that emerged from the witch’s lips—cold, cruel, laced with the weight of power—was not the voice of the maid Mal had known.

For a brief moment, something unfamiliar twisted in Mal’s eyes.

Regret.

And in that moment, Vera could tell that Mal hadmissedher.

TheotherVera. The one who had fussed over her gowns and brushed out her tangled hair in the mornings, who had folded the sheets with quiet precision, who had never once spoken with the quiet venom this woman now wielded. But that Vera had never existed, had she?

It had all been a lie.

‘What should we call you?’

The witch lounged back in the chair as though she were seated upon a throne. ‘Vera, that is my name.’ The witch smirked, tracing a finger idly over the carved armrest of the chair. ‘I couldn’t be bothered to change it. It was a popular name a few years back in this land. It means summer to the drakonians. And yet, in the witchlands it means faith. It is one of the few names that shares territories, being used in more than one kingdom.’

‘Why are you here?’ Mal did not react. She was not interested in the poetry of names.

The witch arched a brow. There were things she would never reveal—not to them, not to anyone. But just this once, she allowed a small sliver of truth to slip past herlips.

‘I’m here to help you,’ Vera said simply. Her purple eyes gleamed like dark gems in the candlelight. ‘To help you kill your husband.’

Hadrian has been my first in absolutely everything.

I want him to be my last too.

Tabitha Wysteria

Alina wove through the moss-laden ground, each step drawing her deeper into the shadow-draped woods. The hush of the trees loomed over her like a watchful sentinel, the rustling leaves whispering secrets she could not understand. An owl hooted in the distance, a haunting warning lost to the wind.

She had seen the dragon keepers that morning, guiding the great scaled beasts through the forest, their wings casting elongated shadows across the castle walls before vanishing into the canopy. Soon, the creatures would be locked away in their cavernous dens beneath the castle, awaiting the day the wyverns returned to their own skies once more. Alina had watched it all unfold from the solitude of her chamber window, her fingers pressed lightly against the glass.

Now, alone in the thick of the trees, she pulled her golden cloak tighter around her form. The fabric shimmered even in the muted light, a regal beacon in a place meant for shadows. Herhood had been tailored with careful slits to accommodate her horns, but the sheer brilliance of the garment defeated any hope of stealth. She was an ember in the darkness, impossible to ignore.

‘The golden cloak makes you stick out like a sore thumb, princess.’

Alina twisted sharply at the sound of Kai’s voice, her pulse quickening, but she could not see him. ‘Where are you?’ she demanded, her nerves taut like a bowstring. The woods unnerved her—too many places for an enemy to hide, too many blind spots she could not control.

‘Come and find me.’

Alina grunted. ‘I have no time for your silly games, Kai Blackburn. You are meant to be teaching me how to fight! Not on how to play hide and seek as if we were five.’

A chuckle, low and teasing, drifted through the trees. ‘Now, now, princess. That is not the attitude I was expecting from my student.’ His voice clucked in mock disapproval. ‘This is an important lesson. Sometimes even the mightiest of warriors must learn how to hide. And on other occasions, on how to find their enemies.’

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