The Girl Who Chose_The Chess Raven Chronicles by Violet Grace

Author:Violet Grace [Grace, Violet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, General, epic, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic
ISBN: 9781743820889
Google: 1yJwDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Nero
Published: 2019-09-03T17:23:46+00:00

My heart’s racing as I zip up my black leather bodysuit. It’s thrilling to get free from the heaviness of my skirts, but it’s not just that. I finally feel like I’m doing something.

I join Jules and Abby downstairs in the apartment, both of them also dressed in bodysuits. Jules’s is the standard-issue brown Protectorate uniform and Abby’s is the colour of blood.

Jules carves a portal in the wall of the foyer. The palatial apartment blurs around us, and then I’m looking at loose planks of wood and rusty corrugated iron.

The night is clear and cool. A light breeze tickles my bare face and hands. Water laps against the dock. The smells of paint and sawdust compete with the ever-present scent of the sea. Salt-encrusted wood-panelled doors are bolted shut behind us with a rusty padlock. Next to the door is a row of straw gondolier hats hanging on hooks.

The place is deserted. Massimo isn’t even here.

‘Now what?’ says Abby, wrapping her arms around her body to warm herself.

As if in answer, I hear the water sluice against the dock. I look across the moonlit canal and see three sharp ripples parting the water. Something’s coming our way, fast.

Abby steps behind Jules.

Metres from the dock, three tailfins breach the surface of the water, then disappear into the inky black just as quickly. Then Melusina and two other mermaids rise up gracefully in front of us. Rena, the one who reminds me of a seahorse, flashes her canines. And the blonde who wanted to snack on my eyeballs sniffs at us like we’re breakfast.

I register the looks of amazement on both Jules and Abby’s faces. For all their dislike of mermaids, seeing them in the flesh is still awe-inspiring.

‘Your Majesty,’ says Melusina.

‘Your Majesty,’ I echo.

‘I come to warn you, halfling.’ Melusina’s face grows grave. ‘You are in more danger than you realise.’

She flicks something towards us and Jules is instantly in front of me as the object lands harmlessly at her feet with a soft, squishy thud. I look down at it. Bluish. Swollen. Flesh.

A finger. A severed finger.

‘Ew,’ Abby says, scrunching up her face.

I know how she feels.

‘Our sister. It is all that remains. Tortured before death.’

I feel like I should offer condolences, but I’m too afraid to open my mouth in case I hurl.

‘One of the Grigio ponies,’ Rena says. ‘Skin the colour of rust, ears full of rings. I almost had him.’

‘Wynstar,’ I say.

‘You know this one?’ she asks.

‘Yes, but he’s not from House Grigio. He’s House Raven.’

‘You sent him?’ Melusina looks to her sisters, who bare their sharp teeth.

‘He serves my uncle,’ I say quickly.

Melusina nods, indicating for the other two to stand down.

‘Do you know what Wynstar wanted from your sister?’ I ask.

‘His master wished to learn my business with you,’ Melusina says.

I rub my hands over my face. First the sporgente and now this. I’ve heard nothing from my uncle since I became Queen. The Chancellor has told me often that the Order is committed

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