THE FROSTBOUND QUEEN (REALMS OF THE COVENANT #1) BY AMY PENNZA – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Amy Pennza
- Language: English
- Genre: Paranormal / Sci-Fi
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
LIRIA
Ishulum
The Winter Court
The castle had never been so quiet.
No one spoke as I made my way to the royal apartments with my
lady-in-waiting, Cyra, at my side. Courtiers in head-to-toe black
nodded as we passed, their expressions solemn. But their cheeks were dry,
and their eyes were clear.
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Our people don’t weep. It was one of my father’s favorite sayings. If he
wept now, I wasn’t aware of it. I hadn’t seen him or Mama in the seven
days since my brother died.
My throat burned as I thought of the sibling who had entered and exited
the world so quickly he didn’t even have a name. There had been no time to
carry him to the Winter Wood and place him in a bed of frost so the gods
could tell us what to call him.
The babe had come too early. Cyra had forbidden my other ladies to
speak of “the tragedy” as everyone had started calling it, but she couldn’t
stop all gossip. And adults often said things they assumed children didn’t
understand. Like how my youngest ladies weren’t really talking about the
floor when they said Father “wore a path in the carpet” visiting my
mother’s chamber at night.
Mama had yet to explain what happened between married men and
women when they shared a bed, but I’d overheard enough whispered
discussions among the courtiers to know my parents were unique. Few
nobles wed for love, but they were an exception. Mama was devoted to my
father, just as he was devoted to her. I’d never heard them argue. Of course,
I didn’t spend much time with them.
That would change now—or at least after the funeral. Mama had spent
the past ten years trying to give my father a son. The proof of her efforts lay
in the Winter Wood, where stones marked the graves of all the other babes
that had come too soon.
I wasn’t the boy my father had pined for, but I was alive. And now
Father waited for me.
As if she sensed my thoughts, Cyra caught my eye and spoke in a
hushed voice. “We should move more quickly, Your Highness. The king
honors you. We mustn’t keep him waiting.”
I nodded, matching her pace. Despite the sorrow in the air, pride swelled
my chest. Mama was still too weak to attend the funeral, so I would
accompany my father in her place. I could only assume Father wanted to
send a message to the court. His son was dead, but he had a living daughter.
I was heir to the throne, and none would dare challenge my claim. One day,
when my magic was strong enough, I would wield the scepter and spread
frost over the entire kingdom.
The broad staircase that led to the royal apartments loomed ahead. The
massive steps ascended one story and then split into two, with one side
leading to my father’s wing and the other leading to Mama’s.
“Skirts,” Cyra murmured, and I nodded again. As we reached the stairs,
I grabbed two handfuls of my gown the way she’d shown me. My hemlines
had brushed the ground since my eleventh birthday six months earlier, but I
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