Page 1 of King of Fire and Flames

Chapter 1

Leaf

My head smacked something hard, and I jolted awake, blinking at a blurry shape opposite me. A person? No, a dust-damned fae. And a hateful one, too.

Esen’s scowl materialized out of the gloom of what appeared to be the interior of a carriage. I stared at her pale face framed by blue hair as bright as a peacock’s feather, sharp pain stabbing my temples.

I couldn’t think straight.

What was I doing traveling in a carriage with Esen for dust’s sake?

The last thing I remembered was crossing the Light Realm desert, giddy with excitement because I was getting closer to Coridon.

Closer to Arrow.

And then…

And then what had happened? I couldn’t remember.

And where the fuck was I?

Heading to Coridon?

Or back to Mydorian?

As I shifted my numb legs, a bad case of pins and needles and an alarming thought struck. The pain in my temples reminded me of something I’d experienced before. It felt exactly like the aftereffects of fire magic.

The kind Quin had used to fight with in Mydorian.

I closed my eyes again, pretending to fall back asleep as unwanted memories slammed through my mind.

The sickening sound of my knife plunging into my twin brother’s heart.

Feeling weak but happy as I recovered in my bed in Mydorian, Arrow by my side. Bidding him goodbye in the forest as he and Raiden left on urgent Light Realm business.

Then the boredom of waiting for him to return for my coronation.

The unbridled thrill of traveling to surprise him, and the glittering beauty of the desert near the Auryinnia Mountains as Luna and I rode through it.

Esen and Raiden appearing in a halo of golden dust. A fire mage with flame-filled eyes. Then his horrible, unbelievable words—by order of the King of Storms and Feathers, you are under arrest.

No. It couldn’t be true.

Fiery agony seared my flesh, blistering my stuttering heart.

No, no, no.

It must have been a dream. A terrible nightmare.

But if so, why was Esen sitting in front of me, a cold smile on her beautiful face?

Not a nightmare, then. It was true.

On Arrow’s orders, the Sun Realm had captured me, and I was trapped in their carriage on the way to dust knew where.

A fucking prisoner once again.

I wanted to scream. Bash my head against the metal walls of the carriage.

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