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Back A Crown as Sharp as Pines Save as PDF
Chapters (37)
  1. PROLOGUE
  2. THE FIRST
  3. THE SECOND
  4. THE FIRST INTERRUPTION
  5. THE THIRD
  6. THE SECOND INTERRUPTION
  7. THE FOURTH
  8. THE FIFTH
  9. THE SIXTH
  10. AN INTERRUPTION
  11. THE SEVENTH
  12. THE NEXT INTERRUPTION
  13. THE EIGHTH
  14. THE FIFTH INTERRUPTION
  15. THE NINTH
  16. THE TENTH
  17. THE ELEVENTH
  18. ANOTHER INTERRUPTION
  19. THE TWELFTH
  20. THE THIRTEENTH
  21. A MIDDLE-ISH INTERRUPTION
  22. THE FOURTEENTH
  23. THE FIFTEENTH
  24. THE SIXTEENTH
  25. THE EIGHTH INTERRUPTION
  26. THE SEVENTEENTH
  27. THE EIGHTEENTH
  28. THE NINTH INTERRUPTION
  29. THE NINETEENTH
  30. THE TENTH INTERRUPTION
  31. THE TWENTIETH
  32. A TRITE-ISH INTERRUPTION
  33. THE TWENTY-FIRST
  34. AN INTERRUPTION
  35. THE TWENTY-SECOND
  36. A WEEK OR THREE LATER…
  37. MERRILY MERRILY

It appeared twenty plus eight times more, scratched into the paper with black ink that splattered the page’s torn edges.

Kaley slammed the note shut, folding it and pushing it back against Lucas’s chest.

“Helen,” she whispered, the name raw on her tongue.

Slowly, Lucas returned the note to his pocket. “I would think as much.”

“What’s Eliot’s problem with her?” Kaley asked.

“I imagine he’s grown obsessed. I saw a Patrolman’s sense of duty twist a time or three in my early seasons. It’s what happens when someone turns away from the Truth and loses their purpose.” Lucas tied a ribbon to seal his pocket shut. “But I can’t decide if Gray has become obsessed with saving Helen or destroying her to end his misery. And the worrisome part, Trite,” Lucas turned on his knees to face Kaley, “I don’t think he’s decided which one he’s set on, either.”

THE NINETEENTH

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THE NINETEENTH

All night I thought about Edward Green. The morning came too fast.

The clearing for the Silver Jubilee Renewal thundered with shouts, bells, and wooden flag poles pounding against the crystal floor. Half the space was interspersed with crimson fabric and cherry headdresses, and the other half with emerald capes, branch antlers, and wooden armour. The sides roared at each other, waving flags and spewing hatred across the glassy rink reserved for the kings to fight to the death.

It had taken us an hour riding a bear-drawn sleigh to arrive. My hands were bound, as were Zane’s. I didn’t see Lucas and Kaley. I scanned the clearing at the kingdoms’ boundary where the trees curled in like claws, and snow ripped across a distant, windy field, trying to spot Edward.

As we were led to our seats, I wondered if the Red royals would recognize me across the rink. Zane and I were wedged between spectators on sloped, log benches, surrounded by Evergreen Host soldiers.

Garland-wrapped figures emerged from the forest shadows like phantoms led by the Queen of the Pines’s sleigh. An emerald cape flapped at her back, intricately carved armour holding it to her shoulders. Wings of kohl adorned her piercing eyes where she took in the howling crowd of onlookers. The Crown of Pines was lit atop her head.

“Cheat’s here,” I heard Zane say over the ruckus of the queen’s white bears snarling at the descending reindeer. The Crimson King stampeded across the sky atop his holly-covered reindeer, followed by Prince Tegan, Prince Forrester, and the rest of the Red Princes.

They landed on the ice with thuds, the reindeer releasing sharp screeches across the clearing. The polar bears roared back as the Queen of the Pines swept onto the rink.

“Cheat probably doesn’t even know you’re here,” I said.

Zane blinked rapidly, squinting. “Yes, he does.”