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Chapters (50)
  1. Praise for
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. City of Mariit: Capital of Maynara Map
  5. One
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Two
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Thirteen
  20. Fourteen
  21. Fifteen
  22. Sixteen
  23. Three
  24. Seventeen
  25. Eighteen
  26. Nineteen
  27. Twenty
  28. Twenty-One
  29. Twenty-Two
  30. Four
  31. By Order of General Ojas,On Behalf of Her Majesty Hara Duja
  32. Twenty-Three
  33. Twenty-Four
  34. Twenty-Five
  35. Twenty-Six
  36. Twenty-Seven
  37. Twenty-Eight
  38. Twenty-Nine
  39. Thirty
  40. Thirty-One
  41. Thirty-Two
  42. Thirty-Three
  43. Five
  44. A Coronation Prayer
  45. Thirty-Four
  46. Epilogue
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. Thank You
  49. About the Author
  50. Violetear Books x Bindery Books

In the moonlight, his mother’s gaze hardened to steel. “One touch is all it takes,” she repeated, without a single trace of doubt. “A tempest is brewing on the horizon, Luntok. We must bide our time until it comes.”

He frowned. “All because of the precioso?”

A harsh breeze rattled the window screens in their panes. Imeria gave an incriminating nod, her next words nearly lost to the wind. “Precioso, Vikal, Gulod⁠—they will give me the rest of Maynara. But when the storm comes to pass, I can overpower the Gatdulas on my own.”

Fourteen

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Duja

Each time Duja felt herself dozing off, she cast her gaze toward the window. In the streets beyond the palace, the uproar of the previous evening’s parade had faded to a distant buzz. Guests had begun to arrive and were trickling in through the courtyard to the royal gardens. Hari Aki remained downstairs to receive them. For the hundredth time that morning, she wished to be by his side instead of trapped inside the palace. She was convinced that one does not know boredom until one has listened to Datu Tanglaw drone on about matters in the north, his dull voice echoing across the domed ceiling of the council room.

“Relations with the Skyland tribes remain amicable. I have zero conflicts to report since last season. The situation in the foothills along the northern road, however, remains tenuous⁠—if I may, Hara Duja, propose a few suggestions?” Datu Tanglaw, at last, broke off his speech to address the queen.

She nodded to encourage him⁠—at any rate, Datu Tanglaw could not expatiate forever. The feast days ran on a tight schedule, and this council meeting was expected to conclude within the next half hour.

Duja did not hate these meetings with the Council of Datus, as many of her entourage assumed. In fact, she preferred the intimate, closed-door affairs to the bustling feasts, where she found herself accosted by hundreds of nobles from all sides, each of them vying for her attention. It was easier to focus on the six nobles who joined her at the council table. To her right sat Datu Luma, Datu Tanglaw, and Datu Sandata; and to her left, Datu Patid, Datu Gulod, and Datu Kulaw. Across from Duja might have sat Laya, her heir.