Mortal Queens by Victoria McCombs EPUB & PDF

Mortal Queens by Victoria McCombs EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online

• Status: Available for Free Download
• Author: Victoria McCombs
• Language: English
• Genre: Teen & Young Adult Fairy Tales & Folklore
• Format: PDF / EPUB
• Size: 2 MB
• Price: Free

MY LIFE HAS BEEN DEFINED by bells. The first time, I got whipped in the
square for stealing while the old brass bells tolled like laughter. The bells
were on their final note the morning I found my mother gone. And when
Desmond kissed me by the celestine fountain, the bells kept count.
They rang now, reminding me I was late. Already, the trumpets sang
from the heart of the island, their low sound reaching the fish market at the
docks. I tripped over cobblestones in my rush to get home before the
ceremony began.

Splinters from the wooden ladder dug into my hands as I struggled to
keep a few squashes tucked under my arms while I scaled the walls of
close-knit homes. Rampant weeds clawed at the stone and scratched my
cheeks, sending sharp bolts of pain with each movement and tugging at my
grip. Some of the squashes fell, landing with a thud on the ground. I stared
down. I hadn’t the time to go back for them. Daven would see it and know
I’d been thieving from his gardens again.

I clutched the remaining vegetables and sprinted across the roof,
flinging myself over the other side. Discomfort rippled through my heels as
they collided with stone on the next roof, but I bit my lip and hurdled again.
Twice more I did this, until I reached the familiar grey-speckled slab of my
home.

I stole a peek behind me toward the heart of the sandy island, where
caravans of camels packed the outlying streets with their noses pointed
inward like they knew what greatness would descend upon us today. For
one day a year, one beautiful hour, the magnificent fae appeared. The ache
inside me to turn and find them sank deep, and my betraying feet angled in
the direction of the governor’s house where they would be. Had the three
fae ambassadors arrived already? I looked up to the pluming clouds like
pillars of sand in the sky, thick enough that I couldn’t see through.

The skies could have been clear and it wouldn’t matter. No one ever saw
the fae ambassadors arrive until they stood at the grand balcony of the
center square, overlooking the mortals. I ought to be there already.
It took all my focus to quench my thirst for the sight of the fae for a
little while longer, but the Queen’s Day Choosing Ceremony was the only
event Daven might leave his gardens for. That man’s diligence to his crops
might have been strong enough to cloud his love for the fae. I leapt over the
final roof with what vegetables remained in my grasp.

Thoughts of Daven and his pitchfork fled my mind as soon as I climbed
down the iron trellis and pushed through the door. Cal stood in the foyer
with his arms crossed and his mouth set firm.

“I’m going to kill you.”
I arranged the squashes on the ground and spread my arms wide like a
prized treasure, but Cal only gave them a passing glance.
“You could have left without me,” I said as I dusted myself off.

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