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Chapters (70)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Map
  5. Epigraph
  6. BEGINNINGS
  7. PART I
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. TEN
  18. ELEVEN
  19. TWELVE
  20. THIRTEEN
  21. FOURTEEN
  22. FIFTEEN
  23. SIXTEEN
  24. SEVENTEEN
  25. EIGHTEEN
  26. NINETEEN
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. THIRTY
  38. THIRTY-ONE
  39. THIRTY-TWO
  40. THIRTY-THREE
  41. THIRTY-FOUR
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. PART II
  45. THIRTY-SEVEN
  46. THIRTY-EIGHT
  47. THIRTY-NINE
  48. FORTY
  49. FORTY-ONE
  50. FORTY-TWO
  51. FORTY-THREE
  52. FORTY-FOUR
  53. FORTY-FIVE
  54. FORTY-SIX
  55. FORTY-SEVEN
  56. FORTY-EIGHT
  57. FORTY-NINE
  58. FIFTY
  59. FIFTY-ONE
  60. FIFTY-TWO
  61. FIFTY-THREE
  62. FIFTY-FOUR
  63. FIFTY-FIVE
  64. FIFTY-SIX
  65. FIFTY-SEVEN
  66. TRICKSTER
  67. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  68. Also by Susan Dennard
  69. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  70. Newsletter Sign-up

“And you,” Vaness replied, “are naive.” She shoved up her arms, bringing her wrists between them. Her iron shackles gleamed in Vivia’s face. “Do you think I wanted to leave Marstok? Do you think I fled with glee? No.” She rattled the iron. “I was forced to leave everyone I cared about—forced to run like a coward from the people who needed me most because in the end, I am the only one who can protect them. I am the Well Chosen, Vivia. Has it never occurred to you that you are too?”

Vivia’s nose wrinkled. “What does that phrase even mean, Empress? Well Chosen.” She thickened the title with disgust. “It’s nonsense. A label old rulers used so no one would question their right. But anyone who thinks they deserve a crown does not, in fact, deserve it. Just look at my father—look at what he has done.”

“I never said I deserved it.” Vaness matched Vivia, her arms casting wide. “Hye, the world has told me I was Well Chosen since the day I was born, but I have also questioned it every moment since. Why was I born with a crown? Why was I given so much power?

“But the answer does not matter in the end. What matters is that I was given a title, a throne, and an empire. What matters is that I choose to use them to help Marstok. That is all I care about: giving myself to the people.” She thrust her shackled wrists in Vivia’s face. “You are the same. I see it in you every day, and that is what makes you special. That is what makes you Well Chosen. I am certain of it.”

Vivia sucked in a breath, ready to laugh. Ready to sneer at the Empress for such absurdity. Except as the cannons echoed in time to her heart, her mother’s voice whispered at the back of her brain: This is the source of our power, Little Fox. The reason our family rules Nubrevna and others do not. Her mother had always believed in the Void Well beneath Lovats, and that ancient lake had always welcomed Vivia, had always loved her. It had been a mother’s embrace long after Jana had been taken by the Hagfishes.

“You are like me,” Vaness said, and she laced her fingers within Vivia’s. Her hands were warm, her grip firm. “We have spent years serving our people because we are the only ones willing to give them everything. And we still can. If you want to help the people of Noden’s Gift—if you want to help all of Nubrevna—then you have to stay alive. You have to stay free.”