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After narrowly escaping a life of servitude on the brutal Slaver's Way, 20-year-old Evolet Northwhit is saved by two servants of the king of a country she has never heard of–The Kingdom of Taya. With little options and a cruel fate awaiting her back home, she works with the massive fae to escape her wretched home, and meet their powerful elven king. When the king offers her asylum, she learns the word does not truly mean safety.
When the royal family from Firen comes to Taya, Evolet must decide which is worse: being a puppet for a wicked prince or the most powerful weapon for a brutal fae queen. If she cannot choose the right evil to serve, Evolet will never know the sweet taste of freedom she has fought so long for.
Read an Excerpt from A Fate So Twisted
The shackles at her ankles, though, were no longer sliding along loosely. Over the travels, the metal had slowly begun to sink into her flesh, the skin laying over it as blood dried. If she did not find a proper healer soon she might lose the ability to walk.
“Don’t run,” a deep voice told her.
Her hands went numb as a newfound strength surged through her damaged legs. Evolet jumped the rest of the way down the tree and charged off in the opposite direction. It was all she could do to keep from yelling from the pain with each step as a throb dared to force her to her knees.
She knew she was a damned fool to think she had waited long enough. The fear had been too much for her to justify waiting, though. All she had to do was get away from him and hide once more.
She could hear his heavy footfalls behind her, but she did not dare slow. The guards, the whips, the chains. It was becoming all too real again as she listened to his steady breaths behind her. If this man caught her, surely he would return her to the cesspit from which she had escaped. Her legs carried her further and further away until she was gasping for breath, until her chest was so tight that she was sure she would collapse.
How was he not tired?
“Miss! Just wait!” he called over the short distance.
The cliff was nearing, the edge just a quick jump down onto the muddy banks of the river just below where they ran. Her eyes scanned ahead, running through as many scenarios as she could muster before it was clear what she needed to do. There was no other way to get away from him quickly.
Evolet made her decision.
She ran towards the edge of a rising cliff on the left. She had followed along it just in case she happened upon anyone else out here, and she knew the fall was not that far. If she ran at just the right speed and landed just right, she could jump the ledge and roll safely at the bottom. The mud would be soft down there, allowing a little bit of give so that the fall would not injure her too badly. She was sure of it.
The man’s hand locked around her arm as she made to jump and reined her back to the ground. He held her at length, his other hand held up in surrender.
“I won’t hurt you! Just listen!”
She kicked against him until she saw the expansive Mark on his forearms. His hooded shirt had sleeves that hung around his elbows, revealing two twinned designs of sharp black lines, sloping and twisting along the muscle of his forearms. It was like someone had painted neat lines on his body, somehow making him seem more severe than a normal man. She could not keep her eyes off the stain on his skin.
Evolet had never actually met another person with magic before. She had seen them hanged, dragged through the streets maybe, but not alive and speaking.
The man slowly loosened his grip on her shift until he was sure that she would not run again. “My name is Kova. I know you’ve been following us.” He observed her curiously, his eyes soft. “I also know you’re on the run from the prison.”
Evolet swallowed hard as she glanced back at the ledge that led down the cliff. She was a fool to think that she could have followed them without raising suspicions, without drawing attention to herself.
“You look like you’ve not eaten in weeks.”
She kept her gaze away from his, still contemplating how she might survive the jump down the cliff. It would take him by surprise, giving her the advantage to cover more ground. Slowly, her fingers dragged to a rip in her shift. She began to fidget as the soul-crushing reality sank in–she’d been caught.
About the Author:
Raised in the Deep South, Belle is a Sci-Fi and Fantasy author that revels in creating new worlds. She recently moved cross country to be closer to the publishing world and hopes to be an editor one day in the near future. Her upcoming release, A Fate So Twisted, is the first in a planned trilogy.
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