Page 1 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin

PROLOGUE

ONE THOUSAND YEARS AGO

City of Taaranas

Aravind Ashvin had spent the night with his cock buried inside a courtesan, feeling like a god. He’d barely slept. He’d come with a grunt, sweat coating his skin and a shiver rolling down his spine. As he drove into her perfect cunt, he couldn’t help thinking about the world continuing around him.

The people of Taaranas slept in their beds and dined with their families, toasting to their health, none the wiser to what they’d witness this afternoon.

History. Destiny.

Today, he would tap into an unimaginable source of power alongside his twin brother.

It would signal the moment the Ashvins would finally rule the world.

He strode past the wide doors of their dark castle, bracketing one end of the city. The grand boulevards stretched in three directions, paved with silver stones and lined with homes, shops, and businesses. Despite the early hour, many were already awake, preparing for the market or their daily errands.

None of it would matter soon.

The snow had been swept earlier where it gathered along the edges of the street. The biting wind nipped at his nose and ears. It was a cold that would bring lesser men to their knees, but Aravind had always found the chill invigorating.

With a scepter clutched in his hand, he thunked along the stones, his gait sure and steady. It did little but look impressive, but he was nothing if not a slave to appearances. He wore a long robe covered with jewels that dusted the pavers underfoot.

Everyone quickly cleared his path, lining up along the wide street and bowing their heads in deference.

It was a beautiful city. Magnificent, in fact.

Over the centuries, his family had crafted Taaranas to greatness from a humble rocky plain surrounded by the Pathara Vala Mountains, erecting opulent buildings to rival every kingdom. Stretching for miles, it now housed thousands of citizens. Soaring snowy peaks loomed in the distance, casting long, cold shadows over the city when the sun fell below the horizon.

As Aravind passed the onlookers, he dipped his chin, acknowledging their respect but maintaining his steady pace. Though he usually enjoyed mingling with his subjects and basking in their adoration, he didn’t have time for their courtesies today.

It was more than likely that Manish was already at the temple. If Aravind knew his brother, he’d probably slept on the floor last night.

Aravind, on the other hand, had chosen to enjoy his lady friend instead. Still reveling in the afterglow, he felt like nothing could stop him. Even now, his cock stirred at the memory of her heaving breasts and the way her tight pussy had clenched around him.

He adjusted himself, grateful that his ostentatious robe covered the tenting fabric in his pants. Sex and power had always been his greatest vices, and soon, he would have everything he’d ever wanted.

Aravind had spent years studying magic and researching its properties alongside his brother.

Nightfire.

That gift unique only to them. Passed down by their mother, who’d died when they were merely children, she’d left them with this kingdom and its legacy and this wild, untamed power that gusted through their veins.

Their father had met with a ‘tragic’ accident once the brothers came of age. Or so the story went. No one could prove what really happened to the former king of Taaranas, and now, decades later, there was no one left to care.

Aravind and Manish had taken their crown, happily agreeing to share it to honor their mother’s dying wish.

Manish was the only person in this life he trusted implicitly.

Aravind continued his walk towards the giant temple standing sentinel at the opposite end of Taaranas’s wide main boulevard.

The brothers had built it as an homage to Andhera, the God of Darkness, their chosen deity. Aravind loved to stand on the wide steps leading to the entrance where he’d recite sermons, interjected with his laudable opinions before receiving his subjects, demanding they bow to their knees and swear loyalty and unwavering faith.

The silver-stepped structure rose nearly as high as the castle, sparkling in the morning light. But its most remarkable feature was the glittering silver star that hung above it, suspended in space.

It spun slowly on an invisible axis, catching flashes of weak winter light.

It was a reminder of their power.