The Rogue Crown
Dedication
For the friends who became family and made new corners of the world feel like home
Content Warning
This book contains themes of violence, blood, war, loss, surgery, cheating, and domestic violence, as well as sexually explicit scenes.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Content Warning
Map
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
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Acknowledgments
An Excerpt from The Evergreen Heir
About the Author
Also by A.K. Mulford
Copyright
About the Publisher
Map
Chapter One
Briata Catullus.” The elderly fae spat into the dust. “Come to seize the crown while the palace mourns? You shouldn’t be here.”
The prophecy plagued her, spewing from ignorant mouths since the day of her birth. At the front of the wagon, two fae scowled at her. Clearly father and son, one had gray hair and a lined face, the other a younger version with the same slender nose and thin lips. Their eyes widened, and Bri knew with her golden-brown skin, auburn hair, and eagle eyes, there was no mistaking her for anyone else. She was one of the Twin Eagles—more myth than person.
“You know the prophecy about me, but clearly not much else,” she said, giving them a twisted grin as she brushed the dust from her tunic. “I don’t take kindly to orders.” Bri narrowed her eyes, noting a third fae popping his head up from the back of the wagon. “My assistance was requested by the Captain of the Guard herself, whose authority I am most certain supersedes your own.”
“The Captain has clearly lost her mind, inviting a Catullus this far into our court,” the silver-haired fae jeered. “I heard she got hacked to bits in the attack. She’ll probably be dead before you get there.”
Delta’s urgent voice echoed in Bri’s ears. She had to keep moving. Her hand moved from the reins toward her favorite dagger on her hip.
“You’re not welcome in the West,” the son scoffed.
He wore one knife on his belt and his father had a lone dagger. They seemed like tradespeople of some sort, untrained in fighting, but fae were faster and stronger than humans or witches. Of the three, fae were the most headstrong too. Bri moved her hands back to the reins. She wouldn’t need her dagger to dispatch these three.
“Are you going to move that wagon or not?”