Chapters (64)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Pronunciation Guide
- Prologue
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Part Two
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Part Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Part Four
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Epilogue
- Excerpt from The Sun and Its Shade
- The Night and Its Moon Playlist
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
He laughed, his emerald eyes twinkling their delight. She beamed back at him, feeling the healing wound of whatever had been broken between them. She also knew Malik well enough to know he was a perfect gentleman with the women, no matter how foul his mouth was this morning.
“Your turn.”
Her smile faded slightly. “Malik, I just wanted to say how sorry I am.”
She had already explained persuasion in broad strokes while on the ride around Yelagin as they’d found a new inn. As it had been well past the two o’clock bell, and given the chaos of their escape from the first establishment, she hadn’t gone into detail. She’d just wanted to get off the road.
She gave him every detail she possessed, explaining precisely why she’d been tasked with speaking to the human queen of Farehold.
He offered a dismissive half shrug. “That’s what I get for being human, I suppose.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Was it better to be fae in this world? Long life was their most coveted trait. Youth, beauty, gifts that manifested themselves in various ways throughout the bloodlines were a source of envy, even of hatred from the humans. But was it a gift worthy of such contempt? What gift is it to be forced to relive heartbreak on an endless cycle until you become so cruel, cold, and desensitized that you cannot love, cannot be vulnerable? Perhaps the humans should pity the fae instead.
She thought that if she could choose her fate, she would have elected to be human, born with a small magic. If she could be human with the ability to heal, to summon wind, to manipulate water, then she could experience the favors of fate without the cruelties of time. Her mind wandered to Brel and thoughts of his human parents, terrified of his gift. Perhaps there was no one born under the All Mother’s preferential treatment. Everyone suffered in their own ways once they entered this earth.
Movement in the room’s corner drew her eyes to the red hair, now neatly pulled into a knot once more, of her friend. Ash eyed her cautiously as he crossed the room toward them, checking her face for signs of regret or shame from the night before, but she held none. Nothing had changed between them, and by the time he slid into his chair, she felt sure he knew it. While he took his turn on the bread and eggs, she began to explain her encounter with the ag’imni.
“They’re fae,” she whispered.
Ash looked up from his forkful of eggs but continued chewing.