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Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Also By K.A. Linde
  3. Kinkadia Map
  4. Alandria Map
  5. Pronunciation Guide
  6. Tribes
  7. The Celebration
  8. The Murder
  9. The Hangover
  10. The Journey
  11. The House of Shadows
  12. The Princess
  13. The Ball
  14. The King
  15. The Wall
  16. The Court
  17. The Masquerade
  18. The Light
  19. The Plot
  20. The Healing
  21. The Training
  22. The Masters
  23. The Problem
  24. The Meeting
  25. The Assassin
  26. The Testing
  27. The Course
  28. The Season
  29. The Lord
  30. The Star
  31. The Dragons
  32. The Protest
  33. The Library
  34. The Bond
  35. The Night of the Dead
  36. The Camp
  37. The Celebration
  38. The Suspect
  39. The Smoke
  40. The Martyr
  41. The Arrest
  42. The Probation
  43. The Holiday
  44. The Estate
  45. The Flight
  46. The Confession
  47. The Village
  48. The Hot Springs
  49. The Geivhrea
  50. The Winter Party
  51. The Heart
  52. The Blackouts
  53. The Symptoms
  54. The Council
  55. The Rally
  56. The Aftermath
  57. The Shift
  58. The Sickness
  59. The Spiritcaster
  60. The Awakening
  61. The Crux
  62. The Negotiations
  63. The River
  64. The Boats
  65. The Shadows
  66. The Battle
  67. The Defeat
  68. The Treaty
  69. The Trial
  70. The Execution
  71. The Father
  72. House of Curses
  73. Also By K.A. Linde
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author

Prescott stilled, suddenly looking so much like his cousin. “Did they?”

“Yes, but …”

“Don’t say that name to Fordham.”

“But …”

“Listen, Kerrigan,” he said, leaning his face into her neck, as if he were nuzzling her. “This is as hard for him as it is for you. We all play our parts here.”

As much as she wanted answers, she needed to bury it for now. It wasn’t going to help them get through the evening. Maybe she should have had more to drink so that their words couldn’t touch her.

“You good?”

She nodded.

“Good, because Fordham is gesturing us over.”

Kerrigan’s gaze met Fordham’s across the room. He looked ever like the imperious prince. She’d learned to read him over the weeks that they trained and worked together, but from here, he was utterly blank. If even she couldn’t guess at his thoughts, then no one else would be able to either.

He crooked a finger at her, and as if an invisible line tethered them together, she moved toward him.

The double doors to the ballroom opened then, breaking their eye contact, and Langdan stepped forward, announcing, “His Majesty, King Samael Ollivier, and Her Majesty, Queen Viviana Ollivier.”

8

The King

The king and queen of the House of Shadows entered the room. King Samael in the black and silver of his house and Viviana in a midnight-blue dress that matched her sweeping dark hair.

Prescott yanked Kerrigan down, and she stumbled, barely righting herself before she fell into a curtsy.

“Some warning next time,” she snarled at him, a little of Kerrigan peeking out.

He shot her an insufferable smirk. “Ah, so you are as feisty as he said you were.”

Kerrigan didn’t get a chance to respond because the king stepped forward to address his court. He lifted his hand to tell his subjects to rise.

“Welcome,” King Samael said. He cut a formidable figure. Not quite as tall as his son, but sturdy with broad shoulders and a booming voice. His hair was long past his shoulders and the same onyx color but with eyes to match. “It is a great triumph of mine to announce that my son, Prince Fordham, has returned victorious to the House of Shadows.” The court applauded the announcement as he gestured to Fordham, who straightened, putting his hands behind his back and staring blankly at his audience. “Tonight, we are not just Ollivier, Laurent, and Blanchard. Tonight, we are all tribe Charbonnet, as we once were. Before the Society kicked us out of their halls, killed those of us with dragons who would not submit, and trapped us here forever, branding us the Dark Court. We claimed the House of Shadows long ago, and with my son’s advancement into the Society and a dragon of his own, we will rise again.”