Mundie Moms

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

GRUMP The (Fairly) True Story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Liesl Shurtliff / Blog Tour: Book Review #Grump


I'm thrilled to team up with Penguin Random House to celebrate the release of GRUMP by Liesl Shurtliff. Today's blog tour stop features my 5 star review. This is a middle grade read, readers of all ages will enjoy!

ABOUT THE BOOK

By: Liesl Shurtliff
Published by: Knopf 
Released on: May 29th, 2018
Ages: 8-12
Purchased from: PublisherAmazon | B&N
Add it to Goodreads
Rating: 5 Owlets
Thank you to PRH for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

From the New York Times bestselling author of Rump, comes the true story behind another unlikely hero: a grumpy dwarf who gets tangled up in Snow White’s feud with the wicked queen.

Ever since he was a dwarfling, Borlen (nicknamed “Grump”) has dreamed of visiting The Surface, so when opportunity knocks, he leaves his cavern home behind.

     At first, life aboveground is a dream come true. Queen Elfrieda Veronika Ingrid Lenore (E.V.I.L.) is the best friend Grump always wanted, feeding him all the rubies he can eat and allowing him to rule at her side in exchange for magic and information. But as time goes on, Grump starts to suspect that Queen E.V.I.L. may not be as nice as she seems. . . .

     When the queen commands him to carry out a horrible task against her stepdaughter Snow White, Grump is in over his head. He’s bound by magic to help the queen, but also to protect Snow White. As if that wasn’t stressful enough, the queen keeps bugging him for updates through her magic mirror! He’ll have to dig deep to find a way out of this pickle, and that’s enough to make any dwarf Grumpy indeed.

A fun, entertaining twist on a beloved classic. Shurtliff once again works her writing magic, and has created a whole new story with all the original components. We absolutely love her twists on the classic fairytales, and GRUMP was no different. This book is just what we'd excepted to be, a new Shurtliff classic!

One of my favorite fairytales growing up was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. This retelling is one I would have devoured as a kid. Told from the point of view of Grump, it wasn't hard to fall in love with this entraining character. His grumpiness is part of his charm, but it also provides some laughable moments too. He plays a much bigger, more important role in this story than the original. He definitely doesn't shy away from taking action when it's needed. I liked that he and Snow White formed a bond in this story. 

While I may not have been Snow White's biggest fan in this story, though I did like her, I was definitely intrigued with the richly detailed world building. It also adds an element to Grump's personality when you know the dwarves history, and the choices Grump ends up making. The dwarves is this story are born underground, have no interaction with humans, and eat precious stones. 

The storyline is fast paced, highly entraining, and completely unpredictable. The later is a huge feat in and of itself, giving the fact we all know how Snow White's story goes. I loved that Shurtliff was able to create a whole new story, while still staying true to the key elements of Snow White's story. 

GRUMP is full of hilarious moments, surprising twists, a little bit of action, and a character whom you can't help but like. Even if he is a Grump. I feel like this book has all the elements that first made us fall in love with Lisel Shurtliff's first book. I think her fans will really enjoy jumping into Grump' story. This book is perfect for those summer reading lists.

LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff / Book Review #Lifel1k3


By: Jay Kristoff
Published by: Knopf Books
Released on: May 29, 2018
Series: LIFEL1K3
Add it to Goodreads
Purchase From: Amazon Book Depository B&N
Source: Purchased 
Rating: 5 Stars

On an island junkyard beneath a cigarette sky, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.

Seventeen-year-old Eve isn’t looking for secrets; she’s already too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she spent months building is a smoking wreck, and the only thing keeping her grandpa alive was the handful of credits she just lost to the bookies. Worst of all, she’s discovered she can destroy machines with nothing more than her mind, and a bunch of puritanical fanatics are building a coffin her size. If she’s ever had a worse day, Eve can’t remember it.

But when Eve discovers the ruins of a beautiful android boy named Ezekiel buried in the scrap pile she calls home, her entire world is turned upside down. With her best friend and her robotic sidekick in tow, she and Ezekiel will trek across deserts of irradiated glass, battle cyborg assassins, and scour abandoned megacities to save the ones Eve loves . . . and learn the dark secrets of her past.

Even if those secrets were better off staying buried.

For those that have read any Jay Kristoff books in the past you will know they are fast paced, full of twists and turns and jam packed full of action. Lifel1k3 is no exception. Told with Jay's wit, the banter between the characters is what makes this book. With Jay you never know what you're going to get and you expect the unexpected, but you will not see the ending coming with this one at all. 

Eve is just trying to get from day to day, scavenging wrecks to build a robot gladiator to compete for money to help look after her sick grandfather. With the help of her friend Lemon Fresh and her robot Cricket, her main worry is looking after her friends and staying safe on the Island called the Dregs. But as strange memories of her life before her parents were killed, start coming back, she finds an Andriod boy called Ezekiel who seems to know more about her past than she does.

Set in a futuristic post WW4 USA, with androids, intelligent robots, and humans with modifications, this is a fun scify ride. But the main theme of this book is friendship. The friendship between Lemon and Eve is solid, as Jay puts it they are each others bestest. Then we have the addition of Ezekiel and the banter really starts. I just loved the language in this book. I loved how the characters spoke to each other, how they had fun with each other and how they coped in a crisis. My favourite quote has to be "you get fancy, Mister Stabby gets dancy, you read me?" The female leads were strong independant characters that will be loved by any YA reader and I'm glad my 15yr old daughter gets to read them.

On Friday 18th May my daughter Megan & I attended the Melbourne (Australia) launch of LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff. Lifel1k3 is the first solo YA book that Jay has written. But to help him launch this milestone his normal partner in crime and Illuminae co author Amie Kaufman hosted the night.

Amie Kaufman interviewing Jay Kristoff

Jay Kristoff, myself and daughter Megan


Tuesday, May 29, 2018

OUT TODAY! 5/29/18 New YA RELEASES!


Happy Book Birthday to today's newest YA releases! Here's a list of what you'll find out on bookstore shelves today:


There's some great new reads out today. Which new releases will you be picking up? 

Monday, May 28, 2018

In Honor of Memorial Day


Today we're taking a moment to pay our respects to those who have given their all in serving our country. Though we're gathered with family and friends today, our thoughts are with those whose loved ones haven't returned home. We are thinking of them and the families who continue to give so much in support of our country. Thank you seems like not enough with the sacrifices you make each day. 

Ghosts of Shadow Market Art Featuring Alec & Rafael #GOTSM #Shadowhunters


Happy Mundane Monday Shadowhunter fans! Did you see this Ghosts of the Shadow Market fanart Cassie shared yesterday on Instagram? How cute is Alec, tying Raphael's shoe. Here's what Cassie shared with the image:

Alec laces little Rafael's shoes near the ruins of the Buenos Aires Institute in Ghosts of the Shadow Market. Art by @dibadavood Points if you can guess who's approaching them in the background.... #suchagooddad #gotsm #tlil#aleclightwood #malec

To answer Cassie's question, could that be Jem and Tessa? Who do you think it is? 

Sunday, May 27, 2018

See @CassieClare at #BookCon18 + Join The #ShadowhunterArmy + Grab A Magnus Bane Plus #Shadowhunters


If you're headed to BookCon this next weekend, here's where you can see Cassie, join the Shadowhunter Army & get a limited Magnus Bane plushSimon Teen made it incredibly easy with these graphics, to create your schedule. Check out the dates, times and locations to join in the Shadowhunter fun Saturday June 1st & Sunday June 2nd. 


MEET CASSANDRA CLARE AT BOOKCON!




JOIN THE SHADOWHUNTER ARMY AT BOOKCON



GRAB A MAGNUS BANE PLUSH AT BOOKCON (Qty. Limited)


You can also check out the schedule here on RivetedLit.com, which also features the schedule for all of their authors attending BookCon. 

Friday, May 25, 2018

QUEEN OF AIR AND DARKNESS Snippet Featuring Julian & Emma #QoAAD #Shadowhunters


Yesterday's newsletter from Cassie was full of Shadowhunter goodies. Most of which I've already shared on the blog this morning. One of the surprises she included in her newsletter was this snippet from QUEEN OF AIR AND DARKNESS. Be warned, it's a heartbreaker!


Hark! A snippet from Queen of Air and Darkness

Julian’s room was small, and painted an incongruously cheerful shade of blue. A white-painted four-poster bed dominated the space. Emma tugged him toward it, sitting him down gently, and went to bolt on the door.

“Why are you locking the door?” Julian raised his head. It was the first thing he’d said since they’d left Ty’s room, though he’d followed her calmly enough.

“You need some privacy, Julian,” she said. She turned toward him; God, the way he looked broke her heart. Blood freckled his skin, darkened his stiff clothes, had dried in patches on his boots. Livvy’s locket glittered in the hollow of his throat, though it had dangled against Livvy’s sternum. Emma remembered that locket: a gift from Julian to his sister when she’d turned thirteen, it had belonged to their grandmother. It had a circlet of the family thorns on the front, and Julian had added an etching to the back: a pair of crossed sabres, Livvy’s weapon.

It held a picture of Ty, Emma knew. She’d barely noticed Livvy wearing it at the Council meeting, though she knew Livvy often wore it when she was feeling nervous, the same way Emma kept tight hold of Cortana.

She wished she’d noticed Livvy more in those last moments, paid more attention to her, rather than worrying about the Cohort, about Manuel and Zara and Jessica, about Robert Lightwood and exile, about her own broken, messed-up heart. She wished she had held Livvy one more time, marveling at how tall and grown-up she was, how she had changed from the chubby toddler she recalled in her own earliest memories.

“Don’t,” Julian said, roughly.

Emma came closer to him; she couldn’t stop herself. He had to look up to meet her eyes. “Don’t do what?”

“Blame yourself,” he said. “I can feel you thinking about how you should have done something different. I can’t let those kind of thoughts in, or I’ll go to pieces.”

He was sitting on the very edge of the bed, as if he couldn’t bear the thought of lying down. Very gently, Emma touched his face, sliding the palm of her hand across his jaw. He shuddered and caught her wrist, hard.

“Emma,” he said, and for one of the first times in her life, she couldn’t read his voice — it was low and dark, rough without being angry, wanting something, but she didn’t know what.

“What can I do,” she breathed. “What can I do, I’m your parabatai, Julian, I need to help you.”

Oh my heart. Talk about heartbreak. I can only imagine how this entire scene will make us feel after we read it. I have a feeling the queen of heartbreak has a lot in store for us in this book. This book will be out on 12/4/18. Find out more about it here

GHOSTS OF THE SHADOW MARKET #4: LEARN ABOUT LOSS by Cassandra Clare & Kelly Link / Cover Revealed #GOTSM #Shadowhunters


Shadowhunters, did you check you inbox? Yesterday Cassie's newsletter went out with a ton of exciting goodies. One of those included the cover reveal for LEARN ABOUT LOSS by Cassandra Clare and Kelly Link. This is the cover for the 4th book in the Ghosts of Shadow Market. It will be out July 10th, 2018. 

I love this cover. I've absolutely loved how the covers have all tied into each book's story perfectly. We can not wait to read this book! 



Next to be released in the Ghosts of Shadow Market, is EVERY EXQUISITE THING. This will be released on June 12th, 2018. You can pre-order it from Amazon | iBooks | Nook | Kobo  

Here's what Cassie shared about it in her newsletter:

Every Exquisite Thing, Ghosts of the Shadow Market #3, is due out on June 12th! I’m really excited for you to read Anna’s origin story and learn even more about the characters of The Last Hours


GHOSTS OF THE SHADOW MARKET - A look at the first 4 covers:



I love these covers. Which is your favorite so far? It's hard a choice, but I think Learn About Loss may be my favorite one so far. 

. @CassieClare Shares RED SCROLLS OF MAGIC Cover Teaser #Shadowhunters #TheEldestCurses


In yesterday's newsletter to her fans, Cassandra Clare shared this teaser for the upcoming cover reveal for RED SCROLLS OF MAGIC. It's the first in the Eldest Curses books about Magnus and Alec. I am looking forward to seeing more of this cover. You can find out more about the book, and the series here

Here's what Cassie shared about it:

The cover reveal of Red Scrolls of Magic, the first of the Eldest Curses books about Magnus and Alec, is coming! I’ll have details on it soon. Meanwhile here’s a tiny teaser from it. Red Scrolls of Magic comes out on March 5th, 2019!

ABOUT THE BOOK

From #1 New York Times bestseller Cassandra Clare and award-winner Wesley Chu comes the first book in a new series that follows High Warlock Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood as they tour the world after the Mortal War. The Red Scrolls of Magic is a Shadowhunters novel.

All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke.

Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand and its elusive new leader before the cult can cause any more damage. As if it wasn’t bad enough that their romantic getaway has been sidetracked, demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping.

THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS Graphic Novel: Vol. 2 Cover Revealed by @cassieclare #Shadowhunters #TheMortalInstruments



Check out the cover for the 2nd installment in the Mortal Instruments Graphic Novel. Cassie shared this cover here. The book won't be available until October 30th, but you can pre-order it now from Amazon

Here's what Cassie shared about the new cover:

The brand new cover for the MORTAL INSTRUMENTS GRAPHIC NOVEL BOOK TWO! Cassandra Jean has outdone herself with this one. The graphic novel comes out Oct 30 and can be preordered https://www.amazon.com/Mortal-Instruments-Graphic-Novel-Vol/dp/0316465828/ Can’t wait! ❤️


Cassie also shared what artist Cassandra Jean shared on Tumblr about the cover, here:




The Mortal Instruments : Graphic Novel : Volume 2
Coming soon, October 30th!
_________________
I had so much fun working on volume 2! Phew! I’m happy with how the cover turned out, and I hid a theme within the volume 1 and 2 covers… can you spot it!?
<3 i="">

Can you spot the theme? 

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

SHADOWHUNTERS TV Series, S3 E10; ERCHOMAI / Review #shadowhunters

In a flashback, we see the Mother of Dragons Demons in her natural environment, a hellish landscape with dragons (I'm not exaggerating) flying overhead as she burns young Jonathan with her touch. "Mother loves you" indeed. OMG, the eye rolls are starting early and way to go capturing another show's feels within the first few minutes of the epi.

gif found here
We get Magnus' back story and how Ismodeus took him in when he was a street kid. Magnus leaves Alec (after an adorable kiss) and goes to find his father in the Underworld. He walks through the same dragon-infested landscape that we saw when the episode started. Dun dun dun dun. The exchange between son and father is so bad. It includes lines like "why reopen this wound" and "I'm sorry to burst your bubble". Oy.

from Shadowhunters twitter
In the Eyeroll to End All Eyerolls moment of the show, Simon's sister is in the hospital and she asks Simon the question we've all been wondering, "I've read enough YA to know, how long is it before I turn?" OMGDUMB. Simon explains the complexities and reassures her she won't turn. If you're thinking that the fangirl in me kinda died right there, you're right.

Luke, meanwhile, is embroiled in a suspension because his weird-ass behavior has finally caught his mundie police superiors attention. I mean, geez, it's about time.

Jace returns Clary to Lillith and she comments that the resemblance between her and BloodclotJonathan is remarkable. Umm, okay. Also, Mama Lillith wants Clary dressed in blue, because "that's what your kind wears when the lost return". Again, ooooookaaaaaay. Weird, MMs, this epi is all sorts of weird. Also, I'm wearing blue today and I'm creeped out.

One more Stealing Another Shows Feels moment, courtesy of Simon obliviating his Mom.

gif found here
Izzy recruits Simon to help find Clary. Luke joins Alec, Izzy and Simon. And using a rune called Spiritum (eyeroll), they can see the tracks Lillith leaves behind (like the waves a shark leaves behind). And then the fight scenes begin, Alec against Jace, Luke and Izzy against Lillith's army -- it's a fight to end all fights. But at the end, Alec is stabbed by Jace, Magnus is out of magic and Jace is once again, Jace, leaving dying Alec to go find Clary (as one does with ones parabatai). Izzy and Like are outnumbered, but fighting bravely.

Simon gets to Clary first, and Clary explains to him that they have to stop Lillith from bringing back Jonathan. Jace comes to Izzy and Luke's rescue and dispatches all the demons that have risen from Lillith's foresaken. Clary and Simon battle Lillith. Lillith's power shoves Simon through a window, but she's been touched by the Mark of Cain and self-combusts just as Jonathan's hand reaches out to touch Clary.

Jace, forelorn, at the top of the decimated roof of Lillith's building watches Simon crawl up and they both realize that Clary's gone, perhaps dead.

From Freeform's Shadowhunters tumblr
Well, we did it, MMs. We survived nine episodes. Phew. A hot mess of a finale did end on one heck of a cliffhanger. What did you think of it? Is Jonathan alive? Pretty sure he is and that he has Clary.


FINAL COUNTS 
Total Eyerolls: DOZENS
One Heck of a Cliffhanger: 1
Dun Dun Dun Dun Moments: 2
Stealing Another Shows Feels: 2

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

FURYBORN by Claire Legrand / Blog Tour: Excerpt + Giveaway #FURYBORN #READLIKEAQUEEN


It's out TODAY! Happy Book Birthday to Claire Legrand's FURYBORN! I'm thrilled to team up with Sourcebooks Fire to celebrate this new release. Today's post features information about FURYBORN, as well as an excerpt + a giveaway! Starting day, readers can enter to win 1 of 2 copies of FURYBORN Sourcebooks Fire is giving away. Be sure to check out all the giveaway details at the end of this post. First, about the book. 

ABOUT THE BOOK



By: Claire Legrand
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Released on: May 22nd, 2018 - TODAY
Series: Empirium series #1
Purchase from: Amazon | B&N | Indiebound
Add it to Goodreads

The stunningly original, must-read fantasy of 2018 follows two fiercely independent young women, centuries apart, who hold the power to save their world...or doom it.

When assassins ambush her best friend, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing herself as one of a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light, and a queen of blood. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven elemental magic trials. If she fails, she will be executed…unless the trials kill her first.

One thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a fairy tale to Eliana Ferracora. A bounty hunter for the Undying Empire, Eliana believes herself untouchable—until her mother vanishes. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain and discovers that the evil at the empire’s heart is more terrible than she ever imagined.

As Rielle and Eliana fight in a cosmic war that spans millennia, their stories intersect, and the shocking connections between them ultimately determine the fate of their world—and of each other.



PRAISE FOR FURYBORN

“Beautiful, brutal, heart-stopping, and epic, Furyborn is a world to lose yourself in—just bring weapons. It’s dangerous there.”
Laini TaylorNew York Times bestselling author of Strange the Dreamer and the Daughter of Smoke and Bone saga

Legrand has created magic on every page. Flawed, smart, and fierce heroines kept me dazzled and breathless. Furyborn is explosive and stunning.” Mary E. PearsonNew York Times bestselling author of The Remnant Chronicles and The Jenna Fox Chronicles


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Claire Legrand is the author of several novels for children and young adults, most notably The Cavendish Home for Boys and GirlsSome Kind of Happiness, and Winterspell. Claire lives in Princeton, New Jersey. Visit claire-legrand.com

Connect online: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook 

FURYBORN TOUR



READ AN EXCERPT FROM FURYBORN 

1
Rielle
“Lord Commander Dardenne came to me in the middle of the night, his daughter in his arms. They smelled of fire; their clothes were singed. He could hardly speak. I had never seen the man afraid before. He thrust Rielle into my arms and said, ‘Help us. Help her. Don’t let them take her from me.’”
—Testimony of Grand Magister Taliesin Belounnon, on Lady Rielle Dardenne’s involvement in the Boon Chase massacreApril 29, Year 998 of the Second Age
Two years earlier
Rielle Dardenne hurried into Tal’s office and dropped the sparrow’s message onto his desk.
“Princess Runa is dead,” she announced.
She wouldn’t describe her mood as excited exactly, but her own kingdom, Celdaria, and their northeastern neighbor, Borsvall, had lived in a state of tension for so many decades that it was hardly noteworthy when, say, a Celdarian merchant ship sank off Borsvall’s coast or patrols came to blows near the border.
But a murdered Borsvall princess? That was news. And Rielle wanted to dissect every piece of it.
Tal let out a sigh, set down his pen, and dragged his ink-smudged hands through his messy blond hair. The polished golden flame pinned to his lapel winked in the sunlight.
“Perhaps,” Tal suggested, turning a look on Rielle that was not quite disapproval and not quite amusement, “you should consider looking less thrilled about a princess’s murder?”
She slid into the chair across from him. “I’m not happy about it or anything. I’m simply intrigued.” Rielle pulled the slip of paper back across the desk and read over the inked words once more. “So you do think it was assassination? Audric thinks so.”
“Promise me you won’t do anything stupid today, Rielle.”
She smiled sweetly at him. “When have I ever done anything stupid?”
He quirked an eyebrow. “The city guard is on high alert. I want you here, safe in the temple, in case anything happens.” He took the message from her, scanning its contents. “How did you get this, anyway? No, wait. I know. Audric gave it to you.”
Rielle stiffened. “Audric keeps me informed. He’s a good friend. Where’s the harm in that?”
Tal didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to.
“If you have something to say to me,” she snapped, color climbing up her cheeks, “then just say it. Or else let’s begin our lesson.”
Tal watched her a moment longer, then turned to pick up four enormous books sitting on the shelf behind him.
“Here,” he said, ignoring the mutinous expression on her face. “I’ve marked some passages for you to read. Today will be devoted to quiet study. And I’ll test you later, so don’t even think about skimming.”
Rielle narrowed her eyes at the book on the top of the stack. “A Concise History of the Second Age, Volume I: The Aftermath of the Angelic Wars.” She made a face. “This hardly looks concise.”
“It’s all a matter of perspective,” he said, returning to the papers on his desk.
Rielle’s favorite place in Tal’s office was the window seat overlooking the main temple courtyard. It was piled high with scarlet cushions lined in gold piping, and when she sat there, dangling her legs out into the sun, she could almost forget that there was an enormous world beyond the temple and her city—a world she would never see.
She settled by the window, kicked off her boots, hiked up her heavy lace-trimmed skirts, and rested her bare feet on the sill. The spring sunlight washed her legs in warmth, and soon she was thinking of how Audric blossomed on bright, sun-filled days like this one. How his skin seemed to glow and crackle, begging to be touched.
Tal cleared his throat, breaking her focus.
Tal knew her far too well.
She cracked open A Concise History, took one look at the tiny, faded text, and imagined tossing the book out the window and into the temple courtyard, where citizens were filing in for morning prayers—to pray that the riders they had wagered upon in today’s race would win, no doubt. Every temple in the capital would be full of such eager souls, not just there in the Pyre—Tal’s temple, where citizens worshipped Saint Marzana the firebrand—but in the House of Light and the House of Night as well and the Baths and the Firmament, the Forge and the Holdfast. Whispered prayers in all seven temples, to all seven saints and their elements.
Wasted prayers, thought Rielle with a slight, sharp thrill. The other racers will look like children on ponies compared to me.
She flipped through a few pages, biting the inside of her lip until she felt calm enough to speak. “I’ve heard many in the Borsvall court are blaming Celdaria for Runa’s death. We wouldn’t do such a thing, would we?”
Tal’s pen scratched across his paper. “Certainly not.”
“But it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, does it? If King Hallvard’s councils convince him that we killed his daughter, he will declare war at last.”
Tal dropped his pen with a huff of annoyance. “I’m not going to get any work done today, am I?”
Rielle swallowed her grin. If only you knew how true that is, dearest Tal.
“I’m sorry if I have questions about the political climate of our country,” she said. “Does that fall under the category of things we’re not allowed to discuss, lest my poor vulnerable brain shatter from the stress?”
A smile twitched at the corner of Tal’s mouth. “Borsvall might declare war, yes.”
“You don’t seem concerned about this possibility.”
“I find it unlikely. We’ve been on the edge of war with Borsvall for decades, and yet it has never happened. And it will never happen, because the Borsvall people may be warmongers, but King Hallvard is neither healthy nor stupid. We would flatten his army. He can’t afford a war with anyone, much less with Celdaria.”
“Audric said…” Rielle hesitated. A twist of unease slipped down her throat. “Audric said he thinks Princess Runa’s death, and the slave rebellion in Kirvaya, means it’s time. That the Queens are coming.”
Silence fell over the room like a shroud.
“Audric has always been fascinated with the prophecy,” Tal said, his voice deceptively calm. “He’s been looking for signs of the Queens’ coming for years.”
“He sounds rather convinced this time.”
“A slave rebellion and a dead princess are hardly enough to—”
“But I heard Grand Magister Duval talking about how there have been storms across the ocean in Meridian,” she pressed on, searching his face. “Even as far as Ventera and Astavar. Strange storms, out of season.”
Tal blinked. Ah, thought Rielle. You didn’t know that, did you?
“Storms do occur out of season from time to time,” Tal said. “The empirium works in mysterious ways.”
Rielle curled her fingers in her skirts, taking comfort in the fact that soon she would be in her riding trousers and boots, her collar open to the breeze.
She would be on the starting line.
“The report I read,” she continued, “said that a dust storm in southern Meridian had shut down the entire port of Morsia for days.”
“Audric needs to stop showing you every report that comes across his desk.”
“Audric didn’t show me anything. I found this one myself.”
Tal raised an eyebrow. “You mean you snuck into his office when he wasn’t there and went through his papers.”
Rielle’s cheeks grew hot. “I was looking for a book I’d left behind.”
“Indeed. And what would Audric say if he knew you’d been in his office without his permission?”
“He wouldn’t care. I’m free to come and go as I please.”
Tal closed his eyes. “Lady Rielle, you can’t just visit the crown prince’s private rooms day and night as though it’s nothing. You’re not children anymore. And you are not his fiancée.”
Rielle lost her breath for an instant. “I’m well aware of that.”
Tal waved a hand and rose from his chair, effectively ending all talk of the prophecy and its Queens.
“The city is crowded today—and unpredictable,” he said, walking across the room to pour himself another cup of tea. “Word is spreading about Princess Runa’s death. In such a climate, the empirium can behave in similarly unpredictable ways. Perhaps we should begin a round of prayers to steady our minds. Amid the chaos of the world, the burning flame serves as an anchor, binding us in peace to the empirium and to God.”
Rielle glared at him. “Don’t use your magister voice, Tal. It makes you sound old.”
He sighed, took a sip of his tea. “I am old. And grumpy, thanks to you.”
“Thirty-two is hardly old, especially to already be Grand Magister of the Pyre.” She paused. She would need to proceed carefully. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you were appointed as the next Archon. Surely, with someone as talented as you beside me, I could safely watch the Chase from your box—”
“Don’t try to flatter me, Lady Rielle.” His eyes sparked at her. There was the Tal she liked—the ferocious firebrand, not the pious teacher. “It isn’t safe for you out there right now, not to mention dangerous for everyone else if something set you off and you lost control.”
Rielle slammed shut A Concise History and rose from the window seat. “Damn you, Tal.”
“Not in the temple, please,” Tal admonished over the rim of his cup.
“I’m not a child. Do you really think I don’t know better by now?” Her voice turned mocking. “‘Rielle, let’s say a prayer together to calm you.’ ‘Rielle, let’s sing a song about Saint Katell the Magnificent to take your mind off things.’ ‘No, Rielle, you can’t go to the masque. You might forget yourself. You might have fun, God forbid.’ If Father had his way, I’d stay locked up for the rest of my life with my nose buried in a book or on my knees in prayer, whipping myself every time I had a stray angry thought. Is that the kind of life you would like for me too?”
Tal watched her, unmoved. “If it meant you were safe and that others were safe as well? Yes, I would.”
“Kept under lock and key like some criminal.” A familiar, frustrated feeling rose within her; she pushed it back down with a vengeance. She would not lose control, not today of all days.
“Do you know,” she said, her voice falsely bright, “that when it storms, Father takes me down to the servants’ quarters and gives me dumbwort? It puts me to sleep, and he locks me up and leaves me there.”
After a pause, Tal answered, “Yes.”
“I used to fight him. He would hold me down and slap me, pinch my nose shut until I couldn’t breathe and had to open my mouth. Then he would shove the vial between my lips and make me drink, and I would spit it up, but he would keep forcing me to drink, whispering to me everything I’d ever done wrong, and right in the middle of yelling how much I hated him, I would fall asleep. And when I would wake up, the storm would be over.”
A longer pause. “Yes,” Tal answered softly. “I know.”
“He thinks storms are too provocative for me. They give me ideas, he says.”
Tal cleared his throat. “That was my fault.”
“I know.”
“But the medicine, that was his suggestion.”
She gave him a withering look. “And did you try to talk him out of it?”
He did not answer, and the patience on his face left her seething.
“I don’t fight him anymore,” she said. “I hear a crack of thunder and go below without him even asking me to. How pathetic I’ve become.”
“Rielle…” Tal sighed, shook his head. “Everything I could say to you, I’ve said before.”
She approached him, letting the loneliness she typically hid from him—from everyone—soften her face. Come, good Magister Belounnon. Pity your sweet Rielle. He broke first, looking away from her. Something like sorrow shifted across his face, and his jaw tightened.
Good.
“He’d let me sleep through life if he could,” she said.
“He loves you, Rielle. He worries for you.”
Heat snapped at Rielle’s fingertips, growing along with her anger. With a stubborn stab of fury, she let it come. She knew she shouldn’t, that an outburst would only make it more difficult to sneak away, but suddenly she could not bring herself to care.
He loves you, Rielle.
A father who loved his daughter would not make her his prisoner.
She seized one of the candles from Tal’s desk and watched with grim satisfaction as the wick burst into a spitting, unruly flame. As she stared at it, she imagined her fury as a flooding river, steadily spilling over its banks and feeding the flame in her hands.
The flame grew—the size of a pen, a dagger, a sword. Then every candle followed suit, a forest of fiery blades.
Tal rose from his desk and picked up the handsome polished shield from its stand in the corner of the room. Every elemental who had ever lived—every waterworker and windsinger, every shadowcaster and every firebrand like Tal—had to use a casting, a physical object uniquely forged by their own hands, to access their power. Their singular power, the one element they could control.
But not Rielle.
She needed no casting, and fire was not the only element that obeyed her.
All of them did.
Tal stood behind her, one hand holding his shield, the other hand resting gently on her own. As a child, back when she had still thought she loved Tal, such touches had thrilled her.
Now she seriously considered punching him.
“In the name of Saint Marzana the Brilliant,” Tal murmured, “we offer this prayer to the flames, that the empirium might hear our plea and grant us strength: Fleet-footed fire, blaze not with fury or abandon. Burn steady and true, burn clean and burn bright.”
Rielle bit down on harsh words. How she hated praying. Every familiar word felt like a new bar being added to the cage her father and Tal had crafted for her.
The room began to shake—the inkwell on Tal’s desk, the panes of glass in the open window, Tal’s half-finished cup of tea.
“Rielle?” Tal prompted, shifting his shield. In his body behind her, she felt a rising hot tension as he prepared to douse her fire with his own power. Despite her best efforts, the concern in his voice caused her a twinge of remorse. He meant well, she knew. He wanted, desperately, for her to be happy.
Unlike her father.
So Rielle bowed her head and swallowed her anger. After all, what she was about to do might turn Tal against her forever. She could allow him this small victory.
“Blaze not with fury or abandon,” she repeated, closing her eyes. She imagined setting aside every scrap of emotion, every sound, every thought, until her mind was a vast field of darkness—except for the tiny spot of light that was the flame in her hands.
Then she allowed the darkness to seep across the flame as well and was left alone in the cool, still void of her mind.
The room calmed.
Tal’s hand fell away.
Rielle listened as he returned his shield to its stand. The prayer had scraped her clean, and in the wake of her anger she felt…nothing. A hollow heart and an empty head.
When she opened her eyes, they were dry and tired. She wondered bitterly what it would be like to live without a constant refrain of prayers in her thoughts, warning her against her own feelings.
The temple bells chimed eleven times; Rielle’s pulse jumped. Any moment now, she would hear Ludivine’s signal.
She turned toward the window. No more prayers, no more reading. Every muscle in her body surged with energy. She wanted to ride.
“I’d rather be dead than live as my father’s prisoner,” she said at last, unable to resist that last petulant stab.
“Dead like your mother?”
Rielle froze. When she faced Tal, he did not look away. She had not expected that cruelty. From her father, yes, but never from Tal.
The memory of long-ago flames blazed across her vision.
“Did Father instruct you to bring that up if I got out of hand?” she asked, keeping her voice flat and cool. “What with the Chase and all.”
“Yes,” Tal answered, unflinching.
“Well, I’m happy to tell you I’ve only killed the one time. You needn’t worry yourself.”
After a moment, Tal turned to straighten the books on his desk. “This is as much for your safety as it is for everyone else’s. If the king discovered we’d been hiding the truth of your power all these years…You know what could happen. Especially to your father. And yet he does it because he loves you more than you’ll ever understand.”
Rielle laughed sharply. “That isn’t reason enough to treat me like this. I’ll never forgive him for it. Someday, I’ll stop forgiving you too.”
“I know,” Tal said, and at the sadness in his voice, Rielle nearly took pity on him.
Nearly.
But then a great crash sounded from downstairs, and an unmistakable cry of alarm.
Ludivine.
Tal gave Rielle that familiar look he so often had—when she had, at seven, overflowed their pool at the Baths; when he had found her, at fifteen, the first time she snuck out to Odo’s tavern. That look of What did I do to deserve such trials?
Rielle gazed innocently back at him.
“Stay here,” he ordered. “I mean it, Rielle. I appreciate your frustration—truly, I do—but this is about more than the injustice of you feeling bored.”
Rielle returned to the window seat, hoping her expression appeared suitably abashed.
“I love you, Tal,” she said, and the truth of that was enough to make her hate herself a little.
“I know,” he replied. Then he threw on his magisterial robe and swept out the door.
“Magister, it’s Lady Ludivine,” came a panicked voice from the hallway—one of Tal’s young acolytes. “She’d only just arrived in the chapel, my lord, when she turned pale and collapsed. I don’t know what happened!”
“Summon my healer,” Tal instructed, “and send a message to the queen. She’ll be in her box at the starting line. Tell her that her niece has taken ill and will not be joining her there.”
Once they had gone, Rielle smiled and yanked on her boots.
Stay here?
Not a chance.
She hurried through the sitting room outside Tal’s office and into the temple’s red-veined marble hallways, where embroidered flourishes of shimmering flames lined the plush carpets. The temple entryway, its parquet floor polished to a sheen of gold, was a flurry of activity as worshippers, acolytes, and servants hurried across to the peaked chapel doors.
“It’s Lady Ludivine,” a young acolyte whispered to her companion as Rielle passed. “Apparently she’s taken ill.”
Rielle grinned, imagining everyone fussing over poor Ludivine, tragically lovely and faint on the temple floor. Ludivine would enjoy the attention—and the reminder that she had the entire capital held like a puppet on its master’s strings.
Even so, Rielle would owe her a tremendous favor after this.
Whatever it was, it would be more than worth it.
Ludivine’s horse stood next to her own just outside the temple, held by a young stable hand who seemed on the verge of panic. He recognized Rielle and sagged with relief.
“Pardon me, Lady Rielle, but is Lady Ludivine all right?” he asked.
“Haven’t the faintest,” Rielle replied, swinging up into the saddle. Then she snapped the reins, and her mare bolted down the main road that led from the Pyre into the heart of the city, hooves clattering against the cobblestones. A tumbled array of apartments and temple buildings rose around them—gray stone walls engraved with scenes of the capital city’s creation, rounded roofs of burnished copper, slender columns wrapped in flowering ivy, white fountains crowned with likenesses of the seven saints in prayer. So many visitors had come from all over the world to Âme de la Terre for the Chase that the cool spring air now pressed thick and close. The city smelled of sweat and spices, hot horse and hot coin.
As Rielle tore down the road, the crowd parted in alarm on either side of her, shouting angry curses until they realized who she was and fell silent. She guided her mare through the twisting streets and made for the main city gates, her body pulled tight with nerves.
But she would not give in to her power today.
She would compete in the Boon Chase, as any citizen was free to do, and prove to her father that she could control herself, even when her life was in danger and the eyes of the entire city were upon her.
She would prove to him, and to Tal, that she deserved to live a normal life.


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