In moments the courtyard cleared. When the crowd was gone, Evony saw that it was only her and the girl in red beside her who remained of the bride candidates. She looked over at the other girl. Taking in the way the stranger worried her bottom lip with her teeth and how her trembling hands had grabbed giant fistfuls of her scarlet overdress, Evony had a good idea of why she hadn’t raced off with the others.
“Are you all right?” she asked, not liking how pale the other girl looked.
Light brown eyes met her darker ones for a moment, then dropped to the ground. “I... That is to say...”
“Are you feeling unwell?”
The other girl shook her head. “No. I... I don’t know what I should bring back,” she whispered, cheeks flaring up in imitation of the colour she wore.
“Ah. Is that all?”
The stranger jerked her head up to stare at Evony, lips sagging open slightly. Evony smiled. In a way, this girl reminded her of her brother. He always stared at people with his mouth open when he was surprised too. “I can’t afford to be eliminated,” the girl said, voice rising and cracking a little. “I can’t.”
“Then think of it another way. Instead of what item you should bring, think about what traits make a good empress in your mind. Once you have an idea for that, thinking of an item should be much simpler.”
For several punctums the other girl said nothing, face hidden by her black hair as she stared at the ground. She looked up after a couple of moments and hesitantly said, “M-mercy?”
Evony smiled as reassuringly as she could. Her brother was like this sometimes too, whenever he thought of the reality of leaving their clan and joining another. The idea of moving away from them all occasionally sent him into a panic, and it was Evony who always had to calm him down and get him to think. “That’s a good idea. Do you know of anything here that represents mercy that you could bring here?”
She bit her lip for a moment, then her eyes lit up and she nodded. “I have an idea.”
“Then go get it.”
The girl smiled. “Thank you,” she said, raising her right arm up in the mainlander gesture of respect. She took a few steps forward then stopped and turned back around. “Are you not going to find something?”
Evony chuckled. “I already have what I need right here.”
“Then thank you again, on my name as Admina of Miletum,” the girl said.
“I am Evony, daughter of Zarina, of clan Aureline. It is an honour to share names with you,” she replied with a closed fist against one shoulder.
“Until later,” Admina said with a faint smile before she hurried off.
Evony watched her go then glanced around. The people remaining in the courtyard, the serving girls, guards, and Rakin, were all staring at her. She hid a smile at the range of their expressions, most clearly thinking she was touched in the head. As funny as it would be to leave them staring, she supposed it was time she finished her part in this first competition.
Don’t miss THE EMPEROR’S ARROW by Lauren D.M. Smith.
Available now wherever Carina Press ebooks are sold.
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Copyright © 2016 by Lauren D.M. Smith
Acknowledgments
I’d like to thank my family for their ongoing support; Anne, my awesome editor, who has to deal with my word obsessions and general weirdness; the epic Carina team, who pull off magic regularly; and, as always, those people who enjoy my books. You guys make writing fun!
Also available from Lauren D.M. Smith and Carina Press
The Emperor’s Arrow
Enveloping Shadows
About the Author
Since Lauren D.M. Smith came from a family of bookworms, her obsession with the written word started young. Her love of books quickly went from reading to writing, and in high school she started writing full novels. After living and working around the world, she’s finally settled down in the village of Lyn with her husband and their ever-growing collection of nerdy hobbies.
You can find out more about Lauren by checking out her website, www.laurendmsmith.com, following her on Twitter, www.Twitter.com/laurendmsmith, or visiting her on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/laurendmsmith.
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MARK OF THE MOON (Mark of the Moon, book one)
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Physical vessel to the Celtic goddess Brigid and raised by the leader of the Vampire Nation, Rowan Summerwaite is a supercharged hunter with the power to slay any vampire who violates the age-old treaty.
GODDESS WITH A BLADE (Goddess with a Blade, book one)
BLADE TO THE KEEP (Goddess with a Blade, book two)
BLADE ON THE HUNT (Goddess with a Blade, book three)
AT BLADE’S EDGE (Goddess with a Blade, book four)
A Monster Haven Story series by R.L. Naquin
When Zoey Donovan found out monsters are real, her life changed—mostly for the better. Follow her adventures in this fun and quirky urban fantasy series.
MONSTER IN MY CLOSET (A Monster Haven Story, book one)
POOKA IN MY PANTRY (A Monster Haven Story, book two)
FAIRIES IN MY FIREPLACE (A Monster Haven Story, book three)
GOLEM IN MY GLOVEBOX (A Monster Haven Story, book four)
DEMONS IN MY DRIVEWAY (A Monster Haven Story, book five)
PHOENIX IN MY FORTUNE (A Monster Haven Story, book six)
“After the first few sentences involving a plunger being used as a weapon, I knew I was going to love MONSTER IN MY CLOSET complete with all of its cheekiness and quirky characters.”
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In the first book in a beguiling spin-off from the A Monster Haven Story series, an undercover djinn gets caught in a hot mess of lost souls, fast food and otherworldly murder.
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Read on for more adventures from Lauren D.M. Smith!
ENVELOPING SHADOWS
A fierce and beautiful warrior. A man of secrets and shadows. Only together can t
hey stop the awakening horror.
THE EMPEROR’S ARROW
The bride candidates have been summoned. Many have arrived, yet only one is an Amazzi warrior. Only one would give her life to protect him...
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ISBN-13: 9781488079177
Heart of Crystal
Copyright © 2017 by Lauren D.M. Smith
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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 publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
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Heart of Crystal Page 29