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Back Forsworn
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
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He didn’t argue with that.

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The memory faded into the darkness, which was no longer as impenetrable as it had been a few moments ago, Cainan’s eyes adjusting to the lack of light, the stone walls, floor, and ceiling that surrounded him cast in shades of gray.

“Oh, Cora,” he said. What he wouldn’t give to go back to that day, to accept Sinna’s proposal. It had been a rational one, after all, well within the bounds of the very task that they as Forsworn Guardians had been charged with doing. Keeping Narcissi safe. They could’ve waited until she left the cabin, and then he’d have borrowed the flames in her hearth, twisting them, changing them, and then…unleashing them as something better. By the time she returned, everything she owned would’ve been a smoldering pile of ash. She’d have left and it would’ve been the last he’d seen of her. It would’ve been better that way, right?

“Bullshit,” he said, having learned a long time ago that lying to oneself was the most pointless thing to do, regardless of the purpose. Because as much as his heart ached from those he’d loved and lost, never having Cora or Bryony would’ve been a far worse future. A life that wouldn’t have been worth living, or dying, for.

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One hundred years earlier

Lostwood

“Let me do the talking,” Sinna said as they approached the small cabin in the woods.

“Why?”

“Because I’d hate to see you choke on your own foot in your own mouth.”

Before Cainan could respond, his maddening partner had marched up to the door and rapped three times firmly, the sound as loud as hammer blows amidst the cheery birdsong and calming susurrations of leaves being moved by the gentle spring breeze.

“I was beginning to think you were never going to show yoursel—oh,” the woman said as she pulled open the door. Her eyes darted from Sinna to Cainan then back again. “There are two of you. I’m afraid I only have two chairs. No matter, I don’t mind standing.”

“It’s fine. We’re not here for sitting anyway.”

“And I’d be a clumsy hostess if I didn’t insist. I’ve already brewed some tea and the scones are fluffy and hot. Someone had better eat them, and I’m afraid I’ve already had my fill.”

Cainan couldn’t take his eyes off of her, captivated. It wasn’t just her lovely features, though he was inexorably drawn to them, but also her mannerisms, how quickly she’d adapted to the unexpected circumstances of finding two strangers rather than one on her doorstep, how easily she smiled when, if anything, a woman alone in the woods should be afraid of the unknown, even the way she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear without looking the least bit nervous. Like the world was a place to enjoy and not the turbulent, violent place Cainan had experienced for most of his life.