Given
Chapters (49)
Given
Nandi Taylor
CONTENTS
Map of the Allied Seas
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
About the Publisher
Dedication
To anyone who feels like they don’t quite belong—
may you find your tribe.
1
Yenni made her decision as her cousins slithered through the grass like log snakes, hemming the creature in from all sides.
They would hate her for this.
She pulled energy through her focus rune—a band of white painted across her eyes—and felt its warm tingle on her skin as it sharpened her vision. Ahead the n’ne shimmered in the sunlight, the black hair of its haunches flashing blue, then green, then gold. It grazed, its graceful neck bent forward and its tall horns curved and gleaming like blackwood. Four long legs, suited to loping sprints, disappeared into the tall grass. Such a gorgeous animal. Small wonder her cousins wanted to skin it, put its head on display, and make a cape of its pelt.
But n’ne were highly intelligent. It was rare to see more than one or two at a time, and the scholars theorized that they sacrificed themselves to draw predators away from the main herd. In fact, Yenni was certain it knew they were there. At any moment it would draw on ach’e, the divine energy that ran through all things, and put on a magical burst of speed to dart away. She planned to help it escape.
Yenni heard a bird trill, high and sweet, and recognized it as the signal that one of her cousins, or perhaps her younger brother, was in place. Another bird call, and another. They would not attack with fire—that would singe the creature’s hide. No, they would chase the poor thing this way and that until they could catch it, and then someone would snap its neck with their bare hands. If she let them.
Yenni moved through the grass clumsily, causing it to shake and shiver around her. The formation was still incomplete.
Run, she thought desperately.