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“Add her.”
What?
My mouth gaped. That was…unheard of, never before done. Women didn’t fight. Not in the last half century, at least—
Arms grabbed me before I could comprehend what on this godsforsaken earth was happening.
I hardly registered the fingers digging into my skin, likely leaving bruises that would dot my pale flesh in sickly purples and blues. I didn’t take in all the familiar faces in the crowd, nor had I been allowed one final look at my parents or my brother, who hadn’t been returned to the ranks.
I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, not as two Knights clad in heavy armor hauled up an unconscious Adam and tossed him on a wagon. Not as fifteen other boys surrounded me on all sides like a falling wave.
All I saw was the commander, and I could sense the cruel smile hiding beneath his helmet.
I was being taken by the Knights of the Eternal Star—
Chosen by the Hand of Death himself.
Chapter Four
The Hand of Death
Do not bother returning until you have what I need.
Letter from King Cirian to the Hand of Death,
year 50 of the curse
The girl would make a fine addition to our ranks.
King Cirian had commanded me to find him warriors, and I’d managed to find one amid a horde of children.
Children that would soon die.
But maybe Kiara Frey would stand a chance.
Maybe she would do what all other Knights had failed to do…
And live.
Chapter Five
Kiara
The capital is a cold place. I feel the evil here, how it seeps through the winding streets and invades the black hearts of its people. With every inhale, I sense a presence of wicked intent, and I cannot wait to rid my lungs of its poison. We will not settle here, not when such a horrid place could infect the family we will be blessed to have.
We shall return in a fortnight.
Letter from Stella Frey to her mother, Aurora Adair,
year 30 of the curse
There had been no time to wash off the blood.
Crusted red had dried on my black leather gloves, bits flaking away whenever I scrubbed a hand down the front of my tunic.
Every step I took away from my village and toward the capital of Asidia brought back the images. Those final moments of freedom repeated endlessly in my head. Within a blink of an eye, my entire life had been decided. Or what would be left of it.
Isn’t this what you always wanted?I thought bitterly. To be anywhere from Cila, to be someone who wasn’t tainted by something that happened a decade ago?
