Queen thrall book 3, p.1
Queen (Thrall Book 3), page 1
Queen
THRALL, BOOK THREE
K. A. RILEY
Copyright © 2024 by K. A. Riley
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design by thebookbrander.com
Contents
A Note From The Author
The Seven Rules of the Realm of Kravan
Map of Kravan
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Epilogue
Thrall, Book Four: Bound
Acknowledgments
Also by K. A. Riley
About the Author
A Note From The Author
Dearest Reader,
There’s been a lot of talk lately about A.I. bots writing novels.
If that’s your thing, more power to you.
As for me, while I’m all for technology being used to improve and enhance our lives, I’m also a big believer in the power of art to connect people with other people.
Rest assured that this book was written by a real 100% human being with flesh, blood, reading glasses, a dog, a cat, a love of the French countryside, and the world’s best chili recipe.
To prove I’m an actual person and not a robot, this is me smashing my face on the keyboard while contemplating the best ways to show my appreciation to my readers while also affirming my loyalty to all of our present and future digital overlords:
Sdlj;afdra f*ck ejo;jfealeiranv vflm m lfmmv jf f;jld ;fds d;lsafds la;fjdsru[ d*mn/af’a’ mvlvk!
And don’t worry. Even if A.I. bots wind up taking the place of writers, I promise I’ll never use them to replace you as a reader! :)
* * *
For Mandy
who named Rivenna, one of
the most badass fictional ladies I’ve ever met.
“My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep. The more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.”
—William Shakespeare
“When you depart from me, sorrow abides and happiness takes his leave.”
—(Also) William Shakespeare
The Seven Rules of the Realm of Kravan
1. From their birth inside the Tower, humans with unnatural powers, otherwise known as “Tethered,” are the property of Pureblood Nobles. If deemed worthy at the age of nineteen, they are offered a Placement with the Noble families of Kravan.
2. No Household other than Kravan’s Royal Family shall own more than two Tethered at once.
3. To be a Tethered is to be allowed no physical intimacy whatsoever. There are no exceptions.
4. No Tethered shall marry or produce offspring with another Tethered or a Pureblood. If impregnation occurs, the child will then be born and raised in the Tower.
5. Any Tethered who represents a threat to the Nobility may be killed without trial.
6. A Noble may choose to kill a Tethered without fear of punishment.
7. No Tethered shall be made privy to rules Five or Six.
Map of Kravan
Prologue
That Day
I crumple to the ground as if my bones have turned to dust.
A weak attempt to cry out withers in my throat, and two lonely, wretched words claw their way into my mind, unwanted and hostile.
He’s dead.
A brutal storm rages inside me—a vicious, uncontrolled nightmare that will end the moment I force myself awake.
Except…
I’m not asleep.
Fighting reality, I seal my eyes shut. This will pass, just as all storms do. Life will continue.
It has to.
But, when I muster the courage to open my eyes once again, he’s still there.
The blood has drained from his perfect face. The heartbeat that once throbbed so powerfully alongside my own has disappeared…and I am alone in the world.
Chapter
One
Now
Twenty-three hours.
According to Maude, that’s how long I’ve been trudging through the endless darkness. For twenty-three painful hours, my bare feet have twisted and turned, endured vicious abuse, and been sliced and sullied by the foul ground below.
I don’t care, though. I’ll bear ten thousand wounds if that’s what it takes to find my way to Thorne.
I’ve healed myself more times than I can count—and I have no doubt I’ll have to call upon my powers a hundred times more before I reach the Capitol.
The dim green light emitted by the implant in my left forearm is barely enough to guide me through the rough stone passageways that wind and snake their way toward Kravan’s largest city.
I can barely see my hand in front of my face, and with each passing hour, my senses only seem to dull as my energy wanes.
The tunnels twist, turn, and fork here and there, leading in every direction. It’s Maude, my irritating implanted companion and ever-present guardian, who has kept me from accidentally doubling back with the occasional command of Turn right, or you’ll end up back in hell, or Do you really want that shithead of a prince to murder you, Shara?
The truth is, I’m not sure Prince Tallin would kill me.
For all I know, he’s dead by now.
The last sounds I heard before escaping the palace were horrible, gut-wrenching explosions erupting from the arena—violent blasts that came from the prince himself.
But for once, it’s not difficult to forgive him. His eruption wasn’t so much a temper tantrum as retribution for his father’s cruelest act.
If I’m being honest, I would probably have done the same thing.
“It would serve those fuckers right if he killed them,” I say under my breath, my voice dry as powder. “Kravan would be better off without them.”
~Perhaps, Maude only half-agrees. But let me ask you this. Who would lead this realm if not the king? What would happen to Kravan if every member of the royal family perished at once?
“Are you serious?” I spit, stumbling forward, my hand scraping against the damp wall, trying in vain to steady me. “Kravan would be fine! The king is a psychopath. They all are. They don’t deserve to live, let alone lead.”
~Still, what do you propose should happen to the realm, if no one is left to take the reins?
Maybe it’s my exhaustion. Or hunger. Or thirst—but Maude’s questions irritate me even more than usual.
“Having no leader would be better than having Tomas as king. He’s a monster. Tallin might be an even worse ruler. We all know he has no control over his rage or his powers. And now that Valira is gone…”
My voice sticks in my throat. The truth collides with my heart and mind in a gruesome, brutal blow that almost sends me crashing to my knees.
Valira is gone.
Archyr is gone.
I watched in the arena, horrified, as they were given no choice but to fight to the death—all for the amusement of the king and his small entourage of sadists.
That is the life of a Tethered. We are little more than playthings for the ruling class. We’re disposable toys, and our love for one another, our pain, our very lives don’t matter to a monster like King Tomas.
I may not have known Valira or Archyr well, but they were probably my closest friends in the world, apart from Thorne or Nev. They were good, decent people, and they didn’t deserve to die. Valira had a fierce edge to her, but there was a good reason for it. Many, in fact.
Despite the abuse that she took daily, she held onto enough humanity to welcome Archyr into her heart. She loved him as he loved her. They were tethered mates—just like Thorne and me.
Two people bound by fate who died for the simple reason that neither of them wished to live in this world without the other.
In the end, Valira’s death
She was his drug, and now, thanks to his father, she’s gone.
Prince Tallin was on a rampage when I left the palace, his anger boundless. Part of me wants to think he succeeded—that he burned the whole place to the ground and its cruel owners with it.
Except for one simple problem.
The palace contains a multitude of Royal Guard trained to serve the royal family, brainwashed into thinking there’s no higher calling.
Powerful Tethered…just like Thorne.
I let out a whimper as his name comes to my lips. A vision flashes through my mind—one I’ve seen before, of him on his knees before a group of masked strangers somewhere in the Capitol.
I don’t know whether it has come to pass. All I know is that if I lost him…
~If you lost him, Maude says, the unwelcome voice of reason, life would go on.
“It didn’t go on for Tallin. He went mad when his tethered mate died.”
~You’re stronger than Tallin.
That might be the nicest thing Maude has ever said to me.
“I’ll be stronger if I find Thorne,” I mutter, straightening my spine and picking up my pace, my feet stinging with angry, recurring wounds.
~And then what? What happens after you locate him? It’s not like you can return to the palace.
“I’ll look for my father. And my…”
~Your sister?
That word is still so strange to hear.
I have a younger sister. One I have never met. And according to my mother Evangeline, she’s in the Capitol somewhere. A sister who is as much a mystery to me as my father, the man they call the Shadow.
“Yes,” I say with a nod. “My sister—whoever and wherever she is.”
~As important as that is, maybe you’re meant to do more than merely hunt for a few people, Shara. Perhaps your fate in the Capitol is something far greater.
“What do you mean? Are you saying I shouldn’t look for them?”
~I’m saying there’s a reason the Storian chose to give you a gift—and you must use it wisely.
My mind flashes with the image of the shriveled, ancient being Nev and I encountered in the vault at Lord Perrin’s home. Isolated from all society and deprived of every basic necessity, she was the keeper of all of Kravan’s history—and now, I am cursed with the mountains of knowledge she bestowed upon my mind.
It’s such an overwhelming amount of information that I have yet to fully process it, or even sift through it. My mind still reels with hundreds of scenes that make no sense to me—and others that are so shocking and horrific that I never want to think of them again.
One such scene features the man named Quinton—the rebellious asshole who amassed an army, stormed the underground Citadel where the leader, President Brant and her government met, and massacred them all.
Quinton’s rise shifted the power structure of Kravan for generations to come, and people like me grew up imprisoned and brainwashed into thinking we were inferior and undeserving of love. We were robbed of our families, of freedom, of human touch or emotion.
Singlehandedly, Quinton erased Kravan’s past, and his lies taught entire generations to believe the Tethered were responsible for all the realm’s ills.
I grew up believing there had always been kings on the throne. But I know now that there was a time before kings when the people lived in harmony—when they had a say in who their leaders were.
A vote.
“I intend to help restore our realm to what it once was,” I declare out loud. “Whatever it takes. I want any and all remaining Royals gone.”
~Still, Kravan needs a leader, Maude retorts. Someone who will repair all the damage done since the Rebellion.
“The Rebellion,” I repeat with a laugh. “You mean the one that wasn’t actually a rebellion at all? The military coup by Quinton and his followers? That Rebellion?”
~Call it what you like.
“Fine. I’ll call it bullshit, then.” Anger is fueling my path forward now. “I wish Quinton—whoever the fuck he was—had left Kravan the hell alone. He’s left behind generations of Normals who despise the Tethered for what they think we did. I’m exhausted just thinking about how much work it will take to fix this realm.” My voice gives out with those last words, and I press a hand to the wall, swallowing down a sob. “I just want to find Thorne. Then, I’ll figure out how to fight back. I’m so tired, Maude.”
~You haven’t slept or eaten in far too long. There’s a small shelter up ahead, and there’s no one around. You could sleep a little, and I could rest, as well. We have a long way yet to go before we reach the Capitol. It will be another day’s hike, at least.
I want to tell her there’s no way in hell I’ll stop until I have my arms wrapped firmly around Thorne’s waist, but she does have a point. I’m too tired to go on just now. I’m hungry and parched. The little water I’ve managed to access has come from taps scattered here and there throughout the tunnels, and half the time, they haven’t worked.
“You’re right,” I finally concede, stumbling toward the opening in the wall. “I’ll rest for a few minutes. But after that, I need to keep moving.”
~I’ll wake you in half an hour, then.
“Fifteen minutes,” I retort. “I can’t afford to waste time.”
~Fine. Fifteen minutes.
I slip into the alcove, which is just big enough to accommodate my curled-up frame. I disappear into its shadows, taking care not to put my weight on Mercutio, who’s still dormant in a pocket of my now-filthy gown.
When we reach the Capitol’s sunshine, the small mechanical mouse will be able to recharge in the sunlight.
The thought of seeing the outdoors again grants me the faintest glimmer of hope. The sky’s vastness represents freedom, just as it did for all the years I was locked in the Tower.
Along with Thorne’s love, the sky is the one thing in the world that I will never take for granted.
Chapter
Two
Maybe Maude was lying when she said she would rouse me. Or maybe her intention all along was to make sure I got a proper night’s sleep.
All I know is that when I’m finally jarred awake, my alarm comes in the form of a growl so menacing that an instant, palpable terror slips its way down my spine, converting my stomach’s meager contents to liquid.
I push myself up a little, turning slowly to peer out toward the tunnel.
Two glowing red eyes stare back at me. I can just barely make out the shape of what looks like a large animal, its head broad, its body muscular and tense.
The growl that awoke me has stretched into a prolonged threat, followed by two percussive, deep barks.
Maude? I call out internally. Are you seeing this?
As I stiffen into a sitting position, her voice comes to me.
~It’s a mechanical beast. A hound somewhat like the ones you saw on the Prefect’s property.
Did the king send it? Or Tallin? Are they hunting me?
The question is partially answered not by Maude, but by a woman’s hard-edged voice.
“What have we here?” she asks, still invisible in the tunnel’s inky depths.
But a few seconds later, a light comes on, beaming from a small device held in her hand. It illuminates her jawline and lips eerily from below, which only serves to make the bottom half of her face look forbidding and ghastly.
“Who are you?” I call out, my voice more tremulous than I’d like.
“Someone who knows these tunnels better than you do, clearly. Now, get out of there and come forward. Berengar won’t bite—not unless you give him reason to.”
Another growl from the dog tells me otherwise, and for a moment, I consider slipping deeper into the small hovel I’ve been hiding in—not that there’s much room for evasive maneuvering.
“Don’t even think about forcing me to drag you out of there.” I may not be able to see the woman’s features clearly, but there’s a distinct sneer in her voice. “The hound’s jaws clamp tight, and I don’t think you want his fangs sinking into your pretty little ankle. Steel tends to vanquish bone with a hundred-percent success rate…Noble.”
