Rae Carson: The Crown of Embers

I rise to my feet, wiping at tears I don’t remember shedding. I look down at my nurse. My guardian. The closest thing I’ve ever had to a mother. It seems as though she kneels at my feet.

“Ximena,” I say with imperturbable calm. “You have killed for me. You have kept things from me. You have sacrificed one of my dearest friends. You did all this without consideration for my will.”

Her black eyes are hot with conviction. “I have only ever done what is best. You’re just seventeen! You need—”

“I am a grown woman and a queen. And you are dismissed.”

She gapes at me.

“Go home, Ximena. To Orovalle. I’m sure Papá and Alodia can find a post for you.”

“No! I’m your guardian! Elisa, my sky, I love—”

“Tristán, would you please have my former nurse escorted to the nearest passenger ship?”

“At once, Your Majesty,” he says coolly, and he gestures toward a handful of men.

Ximena rises, smooths her skirt, then folds her hands together in perfect composure. As they lead her away, she glances over her shoulder at me and says, “I’ll always be your guardian. No matter what. It is God’s will.”

I turn my back on her, sickened and sad, but well and truly ready to be the queen my people need.

“Tristán. Are you still willing to take a position as Quorum lord?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I fish one of the Godstones from my pocket. It glitters more deeply than any jewel, in spite of its lifelessness. “Take it. It should fetch a high enough price for a whole garrison. I’ll validate it as an authentic Godstone from my personal collection, with a document bearing my royal seal.”

His fingers pause in the air above my hand for a moment before he takes it. “Thank you.”

I gesture for Fernando to approach, and then I pull out another Godstone and lay it in his palm. “Take this to Captain Lucio. Recruit more guards to defend the palace, if it is not overrun already. If it is, you must go into hiding and rebuild the Guard in secret.” I close his fingers around the stone. “Fernando, make me an army of my very own.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” He stares at his fisted hand.

“Belén!”

He approaches, his face dark.

“You are now my personal guard. You will see to my safety above all else.”

He nods acceptance, then peers down into my eyes. “You’re planning something dangerous and brilliant again.”

In spite of everything, I smile up at him. Indeed, the threads of a strategy are patterning together in my mind, and I’m heady with the power of it. The kind of power I really need.

“I want messages sent to Crown Princess Alodia and Queen Cosmé,” I say to no one in particular. “Multiple copies, to be safe. See if they’ll agree to meet me in exactly three months’ time in Basajuan, for the world’s first parliament of queens.”

I resume pacing, right where I left off when Franco’s men barged in. “I’ll send a message to Ventierra, to Hector’s father, commanding that he reinstate Hector as his sole heir. And I need a proclamation—Mara, did my wax and seal survive our journey?” When she nods, I say, “A proclamation announcing my betrothal to Lord-Commander Hector, heir to the countship of Ventierra.” That should stall Conde Eduardo’s efforts to discredit me with the southern lords. All I need is a little time.

Mara hurries over and takes my hands. “Er, congratulations on your pending nuptials?”

I whisper, “He’ll be so angry when he learns I have engaged us without his knowledge.”

“Yes,” she says. “Definitely. But you’ll convince him.”

Belén says, “When do we all leave?”

“We all?”

“We’re going to Invierne with you, of course,” Mara says.

Of course, she says. As if journeying deep into enemy territory is no more than a quick jaunt through the market. I blink against tears. “I need a few days to make arrangements and set things in motion. Then we go.”

Clanking chains echo through the dining hall as Storm rises to his feet. “I’m going, too,” he says. He has been near invisible the whole time, huddled beneath his cowl. “You need a guide. And it’s time I stopped hiding like a frightened rabbit.”

I nod, knowing he offers in friendship this time, that he truly is my loyal subject. “The four of us, then.”

“You should have five!” Tristán protests. “For blessing and protection. It’s the holy number.”

I draw myself to full height, and my voice rings clear when I say, “The fifth place is for Hector.”

RAE CARSONis the author of The Girl of Fire and Thorns . Before becoming a full-time writer, she dabbled in many things, from teaching to corporate sales to architecture. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her family.

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Credits

Cover art © 2012 by Sammy Yuen and Lara Jade

Cover design by Sammy Yuen and Paul Zakris

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used to advance the fictional narrative. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

Crown of Embers

Copyright © 2012 by Rae Carson

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Carson, Rae.

The crown of embers / by Rae Carson.

ISBN 978-0-06-202651-4 (hardback)

Epub Edition © JULY 2012 ISBN: 9780062190086

[1. Kings, queens, rulers, etc.—Fiction. 2. Prophecies—Fiction. 3. Magic—Fiction. 4. Love—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.C2423Cr 2012 [Fic]—dc23 2012014125

Version 09072012

12 13 14 15 16 LP/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

FIRST EDITION

GREENWILLOW BOOKS

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