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April 20, 2023 13:06
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Epilogue
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95.2%
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#FFE0EC
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To family and Faerieland and pizza and stories and new beginnings and scheming great schemes. I can toast to that
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April 20, 2023 13:05
|
Epilogue
|
94.8%
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#FFE0EC
|
: half meatball and half prawn, garlic and tomatoes, goat cheese and black olives, and mushroom and bacon.
|
This is why children should not be left in charge of ordering pizza
|
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April 20, 2023 11:24
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Chapter 27
|
91.0%
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#FFE0EC
|
. “I knew little else, but I always knew you.”
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April 20, 2023 11:15
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Chapter 26
|
87.7%
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#FFE0EC
|
Only out of his spilled blood can a great ruler rise.
|
Surprise surprise
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April 20, 2023 11:15
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Chapter 26
|
87.7%
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#FFE0EC
|
Cardan, naked and covered in blood.
Alive.
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April 20, 2023 10:59
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Chapter 26
|
87.0%
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#FFE0EC
|
Then the serpent’s head is at my feet, golden eyes dulling.
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April 20, 2023 10:59
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Chapter 26
|
86.8%
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#FFE0EC
|
“I do love you,” I whisper. “I will always love you.”
I tuck the golden bridle into my belt.
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April 20, 2023 10:58
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Chapter 26
|
85.8%
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#FFE0EC
|
I have tied their hair to the golden bridle, and it will not be me who is bound with the serpent. Once the serpent is bridled, Madoc and Lord Jarel will become my creatures, as surely as Cardan was once mine.
|
Unless this is reverse psychology
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April 20, 2023 10:56
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Chapter 25
|
83.9%
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#FFE0EC
|
He’d return them to the mortal world.”
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April 20, 2023 10:55
|
Chapter 25
|
83.7%
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#FFE0EC
|
I hate that he loves you.”
“He hated it, too,” I say with a laugh that sounds more brittle than I’d like.
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April 20, 2023 10:52
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Chapter 25
|
82.8%
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#FFE0EC
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“He was willing to break the Blood Crown and trust in the loyalty of his subjects instead of compel it. He’s the true High King of Faerie.”
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April 20, 2023 10:50
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Chapter 25
|
82.2%
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#FFE0EC
|
It would have annoyed me so much, and now, thinking of it, there’s a cold pit of longing in my stomach.
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April 19, 2023 15:22
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Chapter 25
|
81.2%
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#FFE0EC
|
“His name,” I say.
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April 19, 2023 15:22
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Chapter 25
|
81.0%
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#FFE0EC
|
You will be bound together.
|
This better not be ACOTAR level stupid
|
|
April 19, 2023 15:21
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Chapter 25
|
80.5%
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#FFE0EC
|
loved you from the first hour of our meeting. I loved you and despaired. Before I die, I want you to know that.”
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April 19, 2023 15:21
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Chapter 25
|
80.3%
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#FFE0EC
|
“I love you, Liliver. I’ve
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|
April 19, 2023 13:54
|
Chapter 25
|
78.2%
|
#FFE0EC
|
It’s your decision. No one would judge you.”
“If they did, I could cut off their hands,” I volunteer.
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April 19, 2023 13:46
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Chapter 24
|
73.4%
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#FFE0EC
|
The hardest thing—the impossible thing—is to get past the memory of Cardan telling me he loved me. He said those words, and I didn’t answer him. I thought there would be time. And I was happy—despite everything—I was happy, just before everything went so terribly wrong. We won. Everything was going to work out. And he loved me.
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April 19, 2023 13:16
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Chapter 23
|
73.0%
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#FFE0EC
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And I believe that you would stop me.
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|
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April 19, 2023 13:15
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Chapter 23
|
72.4%
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#FFE0EC
|
It leaves marks where it goes, black lines scorching the earth. The difficulty is that those lines spread, blurring the trail and poisoning the land. Still, we followed the serpent back to the palace. It seems to have taken the brugh for its den.”
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April 19, 2023 13:14
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Chapter 23
|
71.8%
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#FFE0EC
|
“Slithery snake king,” says Fala, dressed in lavender motley. “Rules over a Court of nice mice.”
|
I want to be a court poet if I get to be paid for being stupid
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|
April 19, 2023 13:13
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Chapter 23
|
71.1%
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#FFE0EC
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“If that’s what you wish, Your Majesty.” His tone suggests that he’s agreed to many equally useless commands
|
|
|
April 19, 2023 13:13
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Chapter 23
|
70.9%
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#FFE0EC
|
He will be the destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne. Only out of his spilled blood can a great ruler rise.”
|
Spilled blood? Does she just need to stab him?
|
|
April 19, 2023 13:12
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Chapter 23
|
70.5%
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#FFE0EC
|
Can you put together a throne room for me? And maybe find clothing from somewhere for the next few days. I don’t care where it comes from, so long as it makes me appear to be the Queen of Faerie.”
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April 19, 2023 13:09
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Chapter 23
|
70.1%
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#FFE0EC
|
Cardan is gone
|
No he’s not he’s still in there
|
|
April 19, 2023 13:08
|
Chapter 23
|
69.9%
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#FFE0EC
|
“I tried to kill you,” she reminds me.
“You’ve described pretty much every important relationship in my life,” I return,
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April 19, 2023 13:07
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Chapter 22
|
69.0%
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#FFE0EC
|
. “You just have to be brave a little longer.”
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|
April 19, 2023 13:07
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Chapter 22
|
68.8%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Grimsen falls into a withering heap. In moments, he is a husk, as though the poison of the serpent’s fangs ate away his essence from within.
|
Good
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|
April 19, 2023 13:06
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Chapter 22
|
68.4%
|
#FFE0EC
|
. “I mean to slay the serpent and take the throne.”
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|
April 19, 2023 12:29
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Chapter 22
|
68.2%
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#FFE0EC
|
The monstrous thing seems to have swallowed up everything of Cardan. His mouth opens wide and then jaw-crackingly wide as long fangs sprout. Scales shroud his skin. Dread has rooted me in place.
|
Nikolai? Is that you?
|
|
April 19, 2023 12:28
|
Chapter 22
|
67.8%
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#FFE0EC
|
her descendants in power,” Cardan says. “But vows should never be to a crown. They should be to a ruler. And they should be of your own free will. I am your king, and beside me stands my queen. But it is your choice whether or not to follow us. Your will shall be your own.”
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April 19, 2023 12:28
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Chapter 22
|
67.6%
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#FFE0EC
|
“You are right that neither loyalty nor love should be compelled. But rule of Elfhame ought not be won or lost in a wager, either, as though it were a week’s pay or a wineskin. I am the High King, and I do not forfeit that title to you, not for a sword or a show or my pride. It is worth more than any of those things
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|
April 19, 2023 12:27
|
Chapter 22
|
67.2%
|
#FFE0EC
|
The hearts and minds of the Court. If you are too much the coward to duel me with blades, let that be our duel.”
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|
April 19, 2023 12:26
|
Chapter 22
|
66.7%
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#FFE0EC
|
Then the ancient throne of Elfhame cracks down the middle, its flowering branches turned into splinters, its seat obliterated. Sap leaks from the rupture like blood from a wound.
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|
April 19, 2023 12:25
|
Chapter 22
|
66.3%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“And I a fool to wonder if you were even still alive.”
|
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|
April 19, 2023 12:25
|
Chapter 22
|
66.3%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“Daughter, every time I think you cannot rise any higher, you prove me wrong,”
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|
|
April 19, 2023 10:58
|
Chapter 22
|
64.9%
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#FFE0EC
|
“Your father wouldn’t have entertained such an absurd thought for a moment.”
|
It’s gonna be Jude cause it’s always Jude
|
|
April 19, 2023 10:57
|
Chapter 22
|
64.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Because pride is exactly what Madoc hopes to manipulate.
|
|
|
April 19, 2023 10:53
|
Chapter 21
|
62.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
To you, I offer honey wine and the hospitality of my table. But to traitors and oath breakers, I offer my queen’s hospitality instead. The hospitality of knives.”
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|
|
April 18, 2023 13:15
|
Chapter 20
|
58.8%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“He wants you to like him. But just because he wants you to doesn’t mean you should.”
|
|
|
April 18, 2023 13:09
|
Chapter 20
|
56.7%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Could it be another betrayal?
|
|
|
April 18, 2023 10:56
|
Chapter 19
|
52.9%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Lady Asha wishes to see you. She has sent me to bring you directly to the chamber where she languishes.”
|
|
|
April 18, 2023 10:54
|
Chapter 18
|
52.5%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“This is my room,” he points out, affronted. “And that’s my wife.”
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|
April 18, 2023 10:51
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Chapter 18
|
51.3%
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#FFE0EC
|
I never minded being a minor villain, but it’s possible I might have grown into something else, a High King as monstrous as Dain. And if I did—if I fulfilled that prophecy—I ought to be stopped. And I believe that you would stop me.”
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|
|
April 18, 2023 10:51
|
Chapter 18
|
51.0%
|
#FFE0EC
|
I trust you.”
|
|
|
April 18, 2023 10:50
|
Chapter 18
|
50.8%
|
#FFE0EC
|
You’ve always scared me. You gave me every reason to fear your capriciousness and your cruelty. I was afraid of you even when you were tied to that chair in the Court of Shadows. I was afraid of you when I had a knife to your throat. And I am scared of you now.”
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|
|
April 18, 2023 10:49
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Chapter 18
|
50.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
You could have returned anytime you wanted.”
Oh.
O
|
How is Jude considered the smartest female protagonist?
|
|
April 18, 2023 10:49
|
Chapter 18
|
50.4%
|
#FFE0EC
|
I thought you’d be angry, of course, but not quite like this.”
|
Idiot
|
|
April 18, 2023 10:45
|
Chapter 17
|
49.2%
|
#FFE0EC
|
and the next thing we know, the High King is on our doorstep looking ready to tear down the whole apartment complex to find you
|
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|
April 17, 2023 23:08
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Chapter 17
|
48.7%
|
#FFE0EC
|
It is perhaps too plain for a queen, but Cardan is extravagant enough for both of us.
|
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|
April 17, 2023 23:06
|
Chapter 16
|
47.5%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“She is my wife,” Cardan says, his voice carrying over the crowd. “The rightful High Queen of Elfhame. And most definitely not in exile.”
|
“Oh my gosh that’s so sweet oh my gosh I love him so much”
*eye roll* give me a break
|
|
April 17, 2023 23:05
|
Chapter 16
|
47.3%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“Do not touch her.”
|
I bet you ten bucks this is the scene all the girls are gonna fangirl over
|
|
April 17, 2023 22:44
|
Chapter 15
|
44.1%
|
#FFE0EC
|
And around the edges of the cloak, I spot tiny white flowers pushing through the snow, most of them still buds, but a few opening as I look. I stare, not sure what I am seeing.
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|
April 17, 2023 22:43
|
Chapter 15
|
43.5%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“Good-bye, then, daughter,” Madoc says. “You would have made a good redcap.”
|
|
|
April 17, 2023 22:41
|
Chapter 14
|
42.7%
|
#FFE0EC
|
hip. And with them, another person, who turns out not to be Heather at all.
Grima Mog, sword drawn, sits astride a ragwort pony.
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|
April 17, 2023 22:40
|
Chapter 14
|
42.5%
|
#FFE0EC
|
From behind a tree, Vivi steps into view. Beside her is Taryn, wearing Nightfell on
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|
|
April 17, 2023 15:18
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Chapter 14
|
42.3%
|
#FFE0EC
|
His sword sinks into my side, into my stomach.
I look up at him for a moment, eyes wide.
He seems as surprised as I feel.
|
|
|
April 17, 2023 10:59
|
Chapter 14
|
41.8%
|
#FFE0EC
|
One breath, two breaths. I draw my knife. Three breaths. I tur
|
|
|
April 17, 2023 10:59
|
Chapter 14
|
41.4%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Garrett
|
Dude next thing you’ll tell me is that Cardans name is Bob
|
|
April 17, 2023 10:56
|
Chapter 13
|
40.0%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Although I am wearing the cloak Mother Marrow made me, the one that will turn any blade, I still promise to run, tail between my legs. And since I have a tail, that should be amusing for everyone. Are you satisfied?”
|
|
|
April 17, 2023 01:06
|
Chapter 12
|
37.0%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“by all accounts, Prince Cardan was a disappointment from the beginning.”
|
|
|
April 17, 2023 01:05
|
Chapter 12
|
36.8%
|
#FFE0EC
|
The youngest prince was born under an ill-favored star. But he was still a prince, and once Asha had him, her place in the Court was secure. She was a disruptive force. She craved admiration. She wanted experiences, sensations, triumphs, things that required conflict—and enemies. She would not have been kind to someone as friendless as your sister must have been.”
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|
|
April 17, 2023 00:57
|
Chapter 11
|
35.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“Then go, Jude. Run. You can’t stay for my sake.”
|
|
|
April 17, 2023 00:49
|
Chapter 11
|
34.3%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“I deserve it. I know what I did, Jude. I was a fool.”
|
|
|
April 17, 2023 00:31
|
Chapter 11
|
34.1%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Jude?” says a soft voice. A voice I know. The Ghost.
|
|
|
April 17, 2023 00:30
|
Chapter 11
|
33.7%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Madoc has someone imprisoned.
|
Cardan?
|
|
April 16, 2023 22:51
|
Chapter 10
|
32.0%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“Are you glad I killed him?”
|
|
|
April 15, 2023 00:14
|
Chapter 9
|
27.8%
|
#FFE0EC
|
But for now, I edge myself toward a corner,
|
#me
|
|
April 15, 2023 00:14
|
Chapter 9
|
27.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
So the little girl is the ruler?
|
Foil
|
|
April 15, 2023 00:11
|
Chapter 8
|
26.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“You’re a good girl,” she says, making me flush with embarrassment.
I am never that.
|
“Oh I’m not like the other girls I’m sooooo bad”
Shut up
|
|
April 14, 2023 23:35
|
Chapter 7
|
24.1%
|
#FFE0EC
|
I know them, know that they fight without pity, without mercy, and if they’ve made it this close to the High King, Cardan is in terrible danger.
|
|
|
April 14, 2023 22:28
|
Chapter 7
|
23.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Jude, you can’t really think I don’t know it’s you. I knew you from the moment you walked into the brugh.”
|
|
|
April 14, 2023 22:27
|
Chapter 6
|
22.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“As you wish. Then I suppose I will have to examine you alone in my chambers.”
|
He knows it’s her
|
|
April 14, 2023 22:24
|
Chapter 6
|
20.9%
|
#FFE0EC
|
I don’t know if I can do this.
I feel a little dizzy.
|
Oh so you’re nervous about this and nothing else
|
|
April 14, 2023 22:21
|
Chapter 5
|
19.7%
|
#FFE0EC
|
My sister, my twin, was always more lark than grackle, more shy than sensualist. Or at least I thought she was
|
|
|
April 14, 2023 22:19
|
Chapter 5
|
18.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
My widowed, murderer sister with a baby on the way.
|
|
|
April 14, 2023 10:49
|
Chapter 5
|
18.2%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“I’m pregnant,” she says, her voice a whisper.
|
|
|
April 13, 2023 15:17
|
Chapter 5
|
17.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“This smooth skin will wrinkle and spot. It will become as thin as cobwebs. These breasts will droop. Your hair will grow dull and thin. Your teeth will yellow. And all you have and all you are will rot away to nothing. You will be nothing. You are nothing.”
“I’m nothing,” I echo, feeling helpless in the face of his words.
|
I’m uncomfortable
|
|
April 13, 2023 15:06
|
Chapter 5
|
17.4%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“You’re so beautiful.” He begins to trace patterns on my arms, then runs his hands down my sides. “So very beautiful.”
|
This is weird and I don’t like it
|
|
April 13, 2023 12:26
|
Chapter 4
|
15.9%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“They’re going to glamour me and ask questions. I won’t be able to lie. But if you answer in my place, you can say honestly that you didn’t kill him.”
|
|
|
April 13, 2023 12:25
|
Chapter 4
|
15.5%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“He promised he would love me until he died, but his love didn’t protect me from his unkindness. He warned me that the Folk don’t love as we do. I didn’t understand until he left me alone in his great, awful house for weeks on end
|
|
|
April 13, 2023 10:52
|
Chapter 4
|
14.4%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“He’s dead because I killed him.”
|
Oh heck yeah
She could be lying though
|
|
April 13, 2023 10:52
|
Chapter 4
|
14.2%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“Locke is dead,” she blurts out.
|
Good
|
|
April 13, 2023 10:51
|
Chapter 4
|
13.8%
|
#FFE0EC
|
. I’d like to put my hands around Taryn’s neck and squeeze until her head pops off.
|
|
|
April 12, 2023 13:54
|
Chapter 3
|
12.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Love is stupid. All we do is break one another’s hearts.”
|
|
|
April 12, 2023 13:54
|
Chapter 3
|
12.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“Yeah,” I say, thinking again of Cardan and how I walked right into the trap he set for me, as though I were some fool who’d never heard a ballad in her life
|
Y’know what she is an idiot for that and I don’t pity her
|
|
April 12, 2023 13:08
|
Chapter 3
|
11.7%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Your High King is to be dethroned before the next full moon. How do you like those apples?
|
|
|
April 12, 2023 13:08
|
Chapter 2
|
11.1%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“Yes, little cheat,” she grits out, pushing herself into a sitting position. “You bested me. Now help me up.”
|
That was lame
|
|
April 12, 2023 12:15
|
Chapter 2
|
9.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Does he have a new seneschal? Does he have a new lover? Is he going to Council meetings himself? Does he talk about me? Do he and Locke mock me together? Does Taryn laugh?
|
|
|
April 12, 2023 12:14
|
Chapter 2
|
9.2%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Vow that there will be no more murders. Not the Folk, not humans, for so long as you reside in the mortal world.”
“And if I don’t, you’ll burn my treasure?” Grima Mog finishes for me. “There’s no honor in that.”
|
|
|
April 12, 2023 10:53
|
Chapter 2
|
7.7%
|
#FFE0EC
|
Redcaps crave violence and blood and murder—in fact, they get a little twitchy when there’s none to be had for stretches of time
|
|
|
April 11, 2023 13:09
|
Chapter 2
|
7.1%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“No one who wants their name associated with the deed.
|
Cardan
|
|
April 11, 2023 13:08
|
Chapter 1
|
6.5%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“I thought it was something important.”
|
|
|
April 11, 2023 12:25
|
Chapter 1
|
5.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
I don’t want to be king. I never want to be king.”
|
|
|
April 11, 2023 12:25
|
Chapter 1
|
5.6%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“All power is cursed,” I say. “The most terrible among us will do anything to get it, and those who’d wield power best don’t want it thrust upon them. But that doesn’t mean they can avoid their responsibilities forever.”
|
Don’t pretend to be smart when you literally fell for cardans dumb trick
|
|
April 10, 2023 23:12
|
Chapter 1
|
5.0%
|
#FFE0EC
|
I feel as though I am dreaming away my days, restless, never fully awake.
|
Welcome to the real world, Jude. It sucks
|
|
April 10, 2023 16:58
|
Prologue
|
3.8%
|
#FFE0EC
|
She couldn’t attend balls with an infant in tow, so she found a cat whose kittens were stillborn to act as his wet nurse.
|
|
|
April 10, 2023 16:57
|
Prologue
|
3.3%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“Only out of his spilled blood can a great ruler rise, but not before what I have told you comes to pass.”
|
|
|
April 10, 2023 16:56
|
Prologue
|
3.1%
|
#FFE0EC
|
“Prince Cardan will be your last born child,” the Royal Astrologer said. “He will be the destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne.”
|
|