Chapters (70)
- Title Page
- Copyright Notice
- Dedication
- Map
- Epigraph
- BEGINNINGS
- PART I
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- PART II
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- TRICKSTER
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Also by Susan Dennard
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- Newsletter Sign-up
But Vivia of two months ago also would never have allied with the Empress to get back their crowns, because Vivia of two months ago was still the Queen-in-Waiting, catering to her father’s every whim. Certain he only ever held Nubrevna’s interests in his heart.
She had been miserable. Broken. Mind-controlled by a man who had only ever loved himself.
“I have … attacks,” Vivia said eventually. Then, before Vaness could see the flush rising to her cheeks, she fled from the window to the table. “They sit in my chest, like storm clouds through which I cannot breathe. Sometimes, they are mild and I gasp my way through. Sometimes, they are so bad, I cannot move. No one knows about them, though, because like you, I have hidden them since I was a child.” Even from myself.
It was the first time Vivia had ever looked this truth in the face or given it a name. Attacks. She had thought such a confession would be more freeing. She had thought such acknowledgment would be more soothing. Instead, she wished she’d kept her mouth shut and never looked inside. She and Vaness were bitches in the alley again, but this time, Vivia had left her neck fully exposed. All Vaness had to do was bite.
Vivia felt eyes boring into her.
She was pleased her hand didn’t shake as she poured a glass of water. “Now you have my secret.” Don’t bite, don’t bite. “And I have yours. Our futures are once more shared and equal, just as they have been for this past month.”
“And just as,” Vaness murmured, “they always have been.”
She spoke so softly, Vivia almost thought she’d misheard, and when she frowned at the Empress, Vaness did not repeat. Instead she motioned to the door and said, “I will be in my quarters if you need me.”
Vivia didn’t watch her go.
Vivia breathed in the sea air, savoring the way it filled her lungs. Savoring the way the coast looked alive, healthy. Moonlight glared on the dark waves, calm now with the tide out. For all she knew, so long as she kept staring in this direction, there was no poison. No dead, barren land.
“I don’t see anyone,” Cam murmured. He had a spyglass to his eye—a fine bronze thing Sotar had given him and that he polished daily. “I think they’re gone.”
“Hye,” Vivia agreed. Like Cam, she was sprawled on her belly. The pale earth scraped against her white clothes. The Lonely Bastard loomed to the west. The cove waited half a mile behind.