The Drowning Kingdom (Secrets of the Sorrowood Book Two) by L.B. Black

Author:L.B. Black [Black, L.B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aqua Regia Press
Published: 2023-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Quinn’s voice brought Lydia out of… Well, it wasn’t quite a daydream. She’d been watching the sunset behind the hills. A strange formation of clouds spread like two fiery wings over their drowned kingdom. There was something achingly familiar about the sounds of him moving about the deck; just like when they’d first escaped Astoria, running from fire, not flood.

“Amazing,” Quinn breathed, as the sails adjusted themselves to catch a bit of stray wind from the south.

“Gods, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you geek out like this,” Lydia said.

“Geek?”

“You know the way I go all fluttery when I find a book I like?”

“Ah,” he said, his attention returning to the mast. “The magic is so complex. The Llamrei could mostly sail herself, but she still needed some needed input from the crew, like… setting up a long row of flatbones before you push one over to watch them fall.”

Flatbones was a fairy game similar to dominoes. She’d been told the rules by the kingswatch, but they were so vague, she suspected no two fey played in the exact same way. That didn’t stop the watchfolk from developing an intense culture surrounding the game, that seemed to include as many alliances, pacts, and betrayals as any other aspect of court life.

In another time, she would have begged them to teach her. She only knew Cuba through books and documentaries, yet the click-clack of dominoes against a plastic card table had always been something she found a sort of romance in.

“I’m guessing this ship is different,” Lydia said, unable to hide her smile. This was the first time since returning to the Green Country she’d seen Quinn look genuinely happy.

“It’s incredible. Whatever the court is paying Gloriana, they should triple it. I reckon we could step off this ship, tell it where to meet us, and have no doubt we’d find it waiting at a dock upon our arrival. What should we call her?”

“How about the Avalon? Or should I say, the Avalon Two? Though you did say it would be bad luck.”

Quinn gave an opened-mouthed smile.“It’s a name that defies fate, like ourselves. A name from both our worlds. I think it’s perfect.”

Her thoughts drifted back to Amelia Onners. Thankfully, Lydia didn’t remember the pain that’d caused a curse to flow from her battered body up in the Mapmaker’s tower. It wasn’t as if she’d lived in bliss afterward, but she’d had books, and music and friends and Isst and even Francesco with his attempts at fatherly kindness. Amelia had nothing as she lay dead among the wreckage of the Wild Hunt, slowly transforming into a monster.

It wasn’t an excuse, Lydia told herself, thinking of Rosie’s round face and the way she’d tried to fight back with a flimsy wooden sword. Perhaps there was a way to banish Adione from Rosie’s body, but Lydia didn’t know it. The Lady’s words cycled through her mind continuously. She cannot be killed in this world or any other.

“Do you think killing the Herne will free Rosie?”

Quinn stopped what he was doing and wiped his brow.

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