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Chapters (53)
  1. Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area- Western Half
  2. Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area - Eastern Half
  3. Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area - Full Map
  4. Important Trigger Warning
  5. Prologue
  6. PART I
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Interlude: The River of Life
  20. PART II
  21. Thirteen
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Seventeen
  26. Eighteen
  27. Nineteen
  28. Interlude: Fallow Fields
  29. PART III
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Interlude: Of Man and Monster
  37. PART IV
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Twenty-Eight
  41. Twenty-Nine
  42. Thirty
  43. Thirty-One
  44. Thirty-Two
  45. Thirty-Three
  46. Thirty-Four
  47. POSTLUDES
  48. Postlude 1: Lana Vica
  49. Postlude 2: Ludo Vica
  50. Postlude 3: Cainan
  51. Acknowledgments
  52. An excerpt from Heartsworn, Volume II in The Forsworn Oath, available for preorder now!
  53. PART I

She started to stomp away, but he reached out to stop her. “Wait, Bry—”

She had her serash out and in sword form and pressed to his throat before he could even think about drawing his own weapons. “I should kill you where you stand.”

“Will it help bring you peace? If so, do it. I won’t defend myself.”

The blade carved a thin, red line in his neck before she withdrew it. She backed away slowly, holding the sword between them. “Don’t follow me. Leave me alone.”

Ludo watched her. “I’m not going to just give up on my mission. It’s personal to me too. Your father killed my brother.”

Bryony breathed through her nose. “I understand. But know that the next time we meet, I will not show you the mercy I’ve shown today. Now we are even. We owe each other nothing.”

“I understand too. I will not ask it of you. Goodbye, Bryony of Last Dawn.”

She didn’t answer him, turning quickly and dashing away, not stopping to catch her breath until she’d put many miles between them. Tears were a thing that were there, painting their fiery rivers on her cheeks, but, as she’d done for many years now, she refused to give them any power.

Not far ahead, Lostwood loomed, hiding its secrets between pillars of bark and a crisscross of branches and vines.

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Ludo

He watched her go for a long time, not taking a single step to follow. He was angry, and frustrated, and sad, and a little numb. Though they’d been through a lot together in a very short time, she was right—they didn’t really know each other. And he had lied to her and betrayed her trust, even as she’d done the same. It didn’t matter that they both had their reasons. One could justify any malicious action if they tried hard enough.

His heart felt torn in two. For a large portion of his life, he’d sought revenge for his brother’s death. That part of his heart was solid, like iron, but also sheathed in armor of hot, furious flames. It had to be. It was the only way he knew how to survive in the wake of his loss.

But now, he realized, there was a whole other half to his heart that wasn’t like that. It was the part where he wasn’t just a ruthless killer, wasn’t just a man voidbent on revenge. It was the part that wanted to find herbs in the dark for a sick woman he felt a connection to. It was the part that could hold her in the night and feel like he would never need anything else and he would be okay. It was the part of him that, even now, after all her harsh words and threats, wanted to chase after her.