Beyni tamamen kötülüğe çalışıyor. Kendi türünde tek kellmeyle kusursuz. Elmas uzmanlarının flawless dediği türden. En ufak pürüz, en ufak kusur yok. Ama o, bir kara elmas, ne parıltısı ne ışığı var. Saf kötülük hülasası.
See you next book
Fight it, he willed her, sending the words down the bond—the mating
bond, which perhaps had settled into place that first moment they’d become
carranam, hidden beneath flame and ice and hope for a better future. Fight
her. I am coming for you. Even if it takes me a thousand years. I will find
you, I will find you, I will find you.
Only salt and wind and water answered him.
Rowan rose to his feet. And slowly turned to face them.
But their attention snagged on the ships now sailing out of the west—
from the battle site. His cousins’ ships, with what remained of the fleet
Ansel of Briarcliff had won for them, and Rolfe’s three ships.
But it was not those boats that made him pause.
It was the one that rounded the eastern tip of the land—a longboat. It
swept closer on a phantom wind, too fast to be natural.
Rowan braced himself. The boat’s shape didn’t belong to any of the
fleets assembled. But its style nagged at his memory.
From their own fleet, Ansel of Briarcliff and Enda were soaring over the
waves in a longboat, aiming for this beach.
But Rowan and the others watched in silence as the foreign boat crested
through the surf and slid onto the sand.
Watched the olive-skinned sailors haul it up the beach. A broadshouldered young man nimbly leaped out, his slightly curling dark hair
tossed in the sea breeze.
He did not emit a whiff of fear as he stalked for them—didn’t even go
for the comforting touch of the fine sword at his side.
“Where is Aelin Galathynius?” the stranger asked a bit breathlessly as
he scanned them.
And his accent …
“Who are you,” Rowan ground out.
But the young man was now close enough that Rowan could see the
color of his eyes. Turquoise—with a core of gold.
Aedion breathed as if in a trance, “Galan.”
Hangi tür kitapları seviyorsun?
🔎 Polisiye
💕 Romantik
🚀 Bilim Kurgu
🏰 Fantastik
📖 Klasik
🧠 Kişisel Gelişim
🏛️ Tarih
😱 Gerilim
As I said Queen
“Spend a year in Endovier, Rolfe, and you quickly learn how to play a
different sort of game.”
“I told you”—Rolfe seethed with quiet venom—“that you’d one day
pay for that arrogance.”
Aelin’s smile became lethal. “Indeed I did. And so did Arobynn
Hamel.”
Rolfe blinked—just once, then straightened. “Get out of my seat. And
put back that emerald you slipped up your sleeve.”
Aelin snorted, and with a flash of her fingers, an emerald—the fourth
one Dorian had forgotten—appeared between her fingers. “Good. At least
your eyesight isn’t failing in your old age.”
“And the other one,” Rolfe said through clenched teeth.
Aelin grinned again. And then leaned back in Rolfe’s chair, tipped up
her head, and spat out an emerald she’d somehow kept hidden under her
tongue. Dorian watched the gem arc neatly through the air.
Its plunk in the dish was the only sound.
Dorian glanced at Rowan. But delight shone in the prince’s eyes—
delight and pride and simmering lust. Dorian quickly looked away.
Aelin said to the Pirate Lord, “I have two questions for you.”
Rolfe’s hand twitched toward his rapier. “You’re in no rutting position
to ask questions.”
“Aren’t I? After all, I made you a promise two and a half years ago. One
that you signed.”
Rolfe snarled.
Aelin propped her chin on a fist. “Have you or have any of your ships
bought, traded, or transported slaves since that … unfortunate day?”
“No.”
A satisfied little nod. “And have you provided sanctuary for them
here?”
“We haven’t gone out of our way, but if any arrived, yes.” Each word
You’re allowed to explore.
You’re allowed to test limits.
You’re allowed to act from confusion.
You’re allowed to learn the hard way.
You’re allowed to get lost.
You’re allowed to be human.
If humans were meant to be perfect, they wouldn’t have been dropped into a world full of variables, temptations, distortions, emotions, and trauma. You were placed in a maze because the objective was never to be flawless — the objective was to navigate.
I saw your grandmother,” I tell her. A daring card to play.
Her flawless composure does not change, but I feel her grip on my legs weaken, if only a little. Then she dips her chin. Continue, she’s trying to say.
“In Corros Prison. Starved, weakened by Silent Stone.” Like I am now. “I helped free her.”
Another might call me a liar. But Sonya remains quiet, her eyes anywhere but me. To anyone else, she looks disinterested.
“I don’t know how long she spent in there, but she put up more of a fight than anyone else.” I remember her now, flashing across my memories. An old woman with the vicious strength of her namesake, the Panther. She even saved my life, plucking a razor-sharp wheel out of the air before it could take my head. “Ptolemus got her in the end, though. Right before he killed my brother.”
Her gaze falls to the floor, brow furrowed slightly. Every inch of her tightens. For a second I think she might cry, but the threatening tears never spill. “How?” I barely hear her.
“Through the neck. Quickly.”
Her next slap is well aimed, but without much strength behind it. A show, like everything else in this hellish place.
“Keep your filthy lies to yourself, Barrow,” she hisses, ending our conversation.
I end up in a heap on my bedroom floor, both cheeks stinging, with the crushing weight of four Arven guards washing over me. Egg and Clover look a bit rumpled, but healers have already seen to their injuries, whatever they were. Pity I didn’t kill them.
“Shocked to see me?” I drawl at them, chuckling at the horrific joke.
In response, Kitten forces me into the scarlet gown, making me strip in front of them all. She takes her time in the humiliation. The dress smarts as it pulls across my brand. M for Maven, M for monster, M for murder.
I can still taste the
“There is an unfair responsibility that comes with being an only child - you grow up knowing you aren’t allowed to disappoint, you’re not even allowed to die. There isn’t a replacement toddling around; you’re it. It makes you desperate to be flawless, and it also makes you drunk with the power.”
