Page 132 of The Curse of Golden Blood
For Ylvena. For the true queen.
Thirty-seven soldiers. I counted them without conscious thought as fury built in my chest. Thirty-seven fae who'd sworn oaths to protect this court, who'd trusted in walls and wards and me to keep them safe.
Dead because I'd exiled the one man who might have prevented this.
Thunder rolled overhead, though the storm building outside was nothing compared to the violence growing in mychest, the need to find something to destroy that could match the scope of this violation.
Ylvena orchestrated this perfectly, hadn't she? Remove Gryven through my own pride and anger. Insert a shapeshifter to map our weaknesses. Strike at our heart while we slept, safe in the illusion of our own power.
Ylvena wanted war?
She'd have it.
thirty-five
The Color of a Lie
Miralyte
ThefirstthingInoticed was not the ache in my wrists or the taste of iron at the back of my throat, but the figure seated on the throne as if the stone had grown to cradle her.
Ylvena.
She was nothing like the monster I'd imagined. No twisted features or obvious cruelty marking her face. Instead, she was devastatingly beautiful in the way that predators often are. White eyes that held the cold fire of distant stars. Platinum hair that moved like liquid mercury despite the absence of any wind. Her skin was pale as winter moonlight, perfect and unmarked by time or consequence.
She wore robes that seemed woven from captured sunlight itself, golden fabric that shifted and flowed like living flame. A crown of black thorns and white gold sat upon her brow, each point sharp enough to draw blood from the air itself.
This was the woman who had murdered my sister. Who had torn apart my family and set in motion the chain of events that brought me here, chained and helpless in the heart of her power.
"Awake at last." Her voice carried the warmth of summer afternoons and the promise of funeral pyres. "I was beginning to worry that the sedatives had been too strong."
I tried to speak and found my throat raw as sandpaper. The golden chains around my wrists felt heavier than mountains, cold against my skin despite their radiance. When I reached for my power, for the sunfire that should have answered my call, I found only emptiness.
"The chains are rather lovely, aren't they?" Ylvena rose from her throne with fluid grace, each movement precise and deliberate. "Forged from the heart of a dying star. Nothing breaks them. Not even the power that flows through your veins."
The Sun Court stretched around us in impossible grandeur. Everything gleamed with golden light that should have been warm but felt cold as grave dirt.
Death was everywhere, beautiful and terrible. Tapestries showing the fall of kingdoms. Statues of conquered enemies frozen in their final moments. A garden visible through crystalline windows where flowers bloomed in patterns that spelled out the names of the dead.
"You're probably wondering why you're still breathing." Ylvena stopped just beyond my reach, studying me like a particularly interesting specimen. "After all, most who threaten my rule tend to experience rather terminal consequences."
I managed to work moisture back into my throat. "Get on with it then."
She laughed, the sound like silver bells announcing an execution. "Such fire. Such delicious defiance. I can see why you were chosen."
"If you mean Zydar—"
"Oh, my dear child. I'm not talking about the storm prince." Her white eyes glittered with something that might have been affection. "I'm talking about our birth mother. Emystra always did have a weakness for mortals who refused to bow."
Our mother.Our.
"I don't believe you." Even as I said it, I knew it was a lie I was telling myself.
"Don't you? Look at me, Miralyte. Really look." She stepped closer, and I could see it now. The shape of her nose, almost identical to mine. The curve of her mouth. The way she held her head when she spoke. "We share more than power, sister. We share blood."
Sister. The word tasted like poison on my tongue.
The truth of what she was saying hit me like cold water. This woman, this killer, this monster who had destroyed my family, was my sister. My blood. The only family I had left in the world.
