Chapters (53)
- Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area- Western Half
- Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area - Eastern Half
- Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area - Full Map
- Important Trigger Warning
- Prologue
- PART I
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Interlude: The River of Life
- PART II
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Interlude: Fallow Fields
- PART III
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Interlude: Of Man and Monster
- PART IV
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- POSTLUDES
- Postlude 1: Lana Vica
- Postlude 2: Ludo Vica
- Postlude 3: Cainan
- Acknowledgments
- An excerpt from Heartsworn, Volume II in The Forsworn Oath, available for preorder now!
- PART I
“We need to break the cycle.”
“What cycle? And who is ‘we’? Me and you?”
She shook her head, smile forming as though amused as she finally put down the knife. “No, my love, you are not a part of this. You choose not to be a part of this in the way you look at me, like I’m mad. Like you don’t know me. But this book can open your eyes as mine have been opened.” She tapped the cover of a book resting on the table he hadn’t noticed.
He ignored it, because some book was nothing next to this woman and the love they once shared. A love he wanted back more than anything. “I don’t know you anymore, but I want to. Please explain to me what you mean.”
“The One Who Speaks to Me won’t allow that. This is my duty, not yours.”
A lump had been growing in Cainan’s throat from the moment he set eyes on her, and now a sob got caught by it. Seeing her this way…it was breaking his heart. “And what about your duty to your family? What about your duty to your child?”
“My child…,” she said absently, as though his words were some mystery to be solved. “Oh…Bryony.”
“Yes, Bryony. Our daughter. She’s six name days old, with the lovely features of her mother. She has your mind, too. She’s smart as a whip. Strong too. She plays games with the boys and often bests them.”
“I know who she is.” There was a coldness in her tone now.
“I’m glad. Then you need to find a way through this. If not for me, for her. Please, I’m begging you.”
“A way through…yes…that is what I must do. Break the cycle and protect my daughter. Why not? Where my predecessor failed, I must succeed. And it must happen tonight, when the sun refuses to sleep.”
Her words were just as nonsensical as any she’d ever spoken before, but Cainan drew hope from the conviction in them—that she would protect their daughter. If he could only keep reminding Cora of Bryony, then maybe that love could be the antidote to whatever madness was slowly consuming her on the inside.
Like she’d read his mind, Bryony chose that very moment to appear, bursting through the door with the sort of boundless energy only a child could maintain, tumbling breathlessly into the room. She flew past him and into her mother’s waiting arms. Cora looked at Cainan over her shoulder, eyes unfocused.
As though she were looking right through him.
Later that day