A Heart So Fierce and Broken (The Cursebreaker Series Book 2)

The scent of blood is heavy in the air. My mother’s body is motionless on the ground, a dark stain spreading around her.

I drop to a knee. The dagger pierced true. Blood immediately soaks into my robes. Voices murmur in Syssalah all around me. Mother’s guards have drawn swords, but no one has moved.

Nolla Verin is suddenly beside me.

I killed my mother. I can’t breathe.

I can’t breathe.

“Forgive me,” I say, and a sob chokes out of my throat. My hands are sticky, and I press them to my stomach.

Someone drops to his knees beside me, and I expect Grey, but it is Noah.

He grimaces. “She was probably dead by the time she hit the ground.”

“Good,” says Jake behind me.

I feel as though everything is happening underwater. My movements feel too slow. I turn my head and find Noah waiting there.

“She—she killed you,” I say. My voice is shaking. “I heard—I heard the crossbows.”

“My magic,” says Grey. He drops to a knee beside me as well. “It set the arrows off course.”

I blink at him. He finds my hand and grips it in his.

My voice hitches. “Grey, what have I done?”

“You saved yourself,” he says. His fingers tighten around mine. “You saved us both.”

“I killed—I killed my mother.”

“Breathe,” he says softly.

Wings spin in the sky overhead, blotting out the sun. I blink, and Iisak stands over him, a silhouette in the sunlight. “Do more than breathe, Young Queen,” he growls softly. “Stand and meet your people.”

I go still.

I cannot do this.

I cannot.

I cannot.

“Sister.”

Nolla Verin’s voice draws my gaze. A tear leaks from her eyes. “I am glad it was you,” she whispers.

The murmurs around us are growing louder. There are a few shouts. The soldiers have begun to shift uneasily. One of the generals is saying something about the rule of law.

“You must stand,” Grey says. His tone is more urgent.

I grip his hand and pull myself to my feet. Every inch of me is trembling. The generals’ arguing intensifies. Mother’s personal guards look between me and Nolla Verin, and they do not put their blades away.

I should speak. I should say something. A word of command. A word of threat.

All I can do is stare at my mother’s body.

Nolla Verin is the heir. Should be the heir. That is what Mother wanted.

I turn to my sister and hold out a hand.

“Can you stand?” I whisper to her. “You are the heir. You are queen. I cannot do this.”

She stares up at me, then takes my hand. I pull her to her feet and take a deep breath. My sister was chosen for this. She will know what to do.

She releases my hand and takes a step back. She looks coolly out at the guards, at the soldiers, and at the generals. “My people,” she calls. “Kneel to your queen.”

Then she drops to her knees and presses her forehead to the ground. “Queen Lia Mara,” she says.

Behind her, in a wave, every guard, every general, and every soldier does the same.

“Queen Lia Mara,” they echo.

“Queen Lia Mara,” says Grey, and he offers me a bow.

My chest cannot contain the emotion that I feel. My heart pounds so fast and hard that I want to set it free.

I take a deep breath and straighten my shoulders. “My people,” I say, hoping the tremor in my voice is not as audible as it feels. “Rise.”