On the day of her Presenting, in front of the entire Byern Court, seventeen-year-old Cyrene Strohm's lifelong plans come to fruition when she's chosen as an Affiliate to the Queen.
Or so she thinks. When Cyrene receives a mysterious letter and an unreadable book, she finds nothing is as it seems. Thrust into a world of dangerous political intrigue and deadly magic, Cyrene's position only grows more treacherous when she finds herself drawn to the one man she can never have...
King Edric himself.
Cyrene must decide if love is truly worth the price of freedom. Find out in this first book in USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde’s new Ascension series.
“Let them in.” King
Maltrier pulled in a shuddering breath and then coughed raggedly for
a minute.
“Your Majesty, are
you sure?” his longtime servant asked. He had the same relentless
attitude that he always had, but he sounded more earnest than ever,
as if he could will the King not to die.
“Get them, Solmis.
Now.”
Solmis walked wearily
across the darkened room. He heaved open the weathered door to the
King’s bedchamber and spoke to the pair of guards standing watch,
“Get the boys. The King wishes to speak with them.”
One guard punched his
right fist to the left side of his chest in a formal Byern salute and
then walked into the outer chamber. A moment later, he returned with
two young boys with the same dark hair and blue-gray eyes that marked
them as Dremylon heirs.
“This way, boys,”
Solmis said. He was one of the few people who could get away with
calling the Princes boys.
“Thank you, Solmis,”
Edric, the crown prince, said with a smile and the confidence of
someone who never wanted for anything.
The second son, Kael,
pushed past them both, mimicking his brother’s stride. His face was
set in a scowl. Some of his youthful exuberance had already drained
out of him, and in its place was cynicism from losing a mother too
young and from having a sick father, but mostly, it was from being
second.
“Father,” he called
out.
“Come here, Kael,”
the King said. He patted the side of the bed. “You, too, Edric.”
Edric walked to his
side and settled into a chair while Kael hoisted himself up onto the
bed.
With Edric being
fifteen and Kael at thirteen, both were much too young for this kind
of loss.
The King had seen his
youngest, Jesalyn, earlier that day. She had cried the entire time,
understanding what was coming and knowing she could do nothing to
stop it. In tears, she had run out of the room and straight into
Consort Shamira’s arms. She had all but raised the child after his
wife, Queen Adelaida’s unceremonious death.
But he couldn’t waste
thoughts on that now. He was tiring with every passing moment. The
boys…they had to know.
“Solmis,” the King
said, regaining a shred of strength.
His servant, his old
friend, left the room, giving them the privacy they needed.
“Father,” Kael
repeated impatiently.
“I’m dying,” King
Maltrier said.
Silence followed the
declaration. Kael looked aghast. Edric tried to hide the shock of
what he knew would be coming next.
“Edric will succeed
me.”
“I’m too young to
be king,” Edric whispered.
“Fifteen is not too
young.” The King thought that was questionable, but he would not
dispute it with his son. Edric had to be strong. He had to rule. “You
have the Consort and my High Order to help and guide you.”
Edric swallowed and
nodded. “Yes, Father.”
“Trust in yourself,
and all will go as planned. I have formed an alliance with Aurum for
Jesalyn to be queen and another with Tiek, who has offered you their
young Princess Kaliana. Honor these matches to keep our people safe.
A strong king is one with an heir.”
The King leaned over
and coughed into a handkerchief for several minutes. His throat was
raw, and his lungs ached. He didn’t know how much more he could
take, but he had to pass on their legacy.
But could he put that
burden on them?
He had to decide now.
No. He would tell only
one. He would pass it on to the boy most like himself—the one who
could handle the knowledge, the one destined to rule.
The King turned to one
of his sons and said, “I need to speak with your brother alone for
a moment.”
His eyebrows knit
together as hurt and confusion clouded his features. “But, Father—”
“Go,” King Maltrier
commanded.
He clenched his jaw,
stood, and left without another word.
It was the last time
the King would ever see his son.
The door closed roughly
behind him.
King Maltrier turned to
his other son. “You know the story of our ancestor Viktor
Dremylon.”
He nodded, but the King
continued anyway.
“Viktor struck down
the evil Doma court that subjugated our people. Then he claimed the
throne for himself with the sole purpose of ruling in a fair and just
system.”
“Yes, Father.”
“History is told by
the winners.”
“What do you mean?”
He tilted his head and looked concerned.
Perhaps he thought the
King had already lost his mind.
“Viktor did destroy
the Doma court, and he ushered in a new era of Dremylon rule that has
persisted two thousand years up until you today. But what is not in
the stories is that the Doma court had ruled because they had
powerful…abilities.”
His son laughed like
his father was telling a fairy tale.
“Listen!” the King
snapped. That sent him into another fit, and his son helped him sit
up, so he could cough into his handkerchief.
When King Maltrier
leaned back again, the King saw blood had coated the white silk.
“Father, you should
rest.”
“I need to tell you—”
He was interrupted by another cough. “—the truth. Viktor beat the
Doma court and the most powerful leader they had ever known, Domina
Serafina, by stealing magic—dark magic, a magic that cursed Viktor
and all his ancestors. It cursed me…and you…the entire Dremylon
line.”
His son remained silent
and still. The King had gained his attention.
“Now, I must leave
you with this, Son.” The King retrieved a heavy gold key from
around his neck and placed it in his son’s hands. “A lockbox in
the wall in my closet contains Viktor Dremylon’s writings. Collect
it, and tell no one. You must continue our legacy. Anyone who has
Doma blood and discovers their magic must be eliminated. They
threaten our power, your power. They threaten the very world we live
in.”
K.A. Linde Bio:
USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde is the author of The Affiliate, the first book in the Ascension Series. As a military brat, she traveled the world with her family, imaginary friends, and ever-increasing supply of books. She has spent much of her life dreaming up new worlds and characters and forcing them into uncomfortable, usually life-threatening scenarios. After graduating from the University of Georgia with a masters degree in political science, she began spending every waking hour putting those characters onto paper.
When not writing, she spends her time dancing, collecting paperbacks in the hopes of filling a Beauty and the Beast style library one day, traveling to visit her friends who live all over the country, and still reading anything she can get her hands on. She currently resides in North Carolina with her husband and two puppies, Lucy and Riker, where she is hard at work on her next novel.
Links:
Website |
Facebook |
Twitter
a Rafflecopter giveaway
