a heart so fierce and broken by brigid kemmerer

Then we hit our teens, and while our mother was on her deathbed, our father drove our lives into the gutter. When I was young, Jake was gentle and kind, the perfect older brother. It’s not Rhen, though I wouldn’t have expected him to knock. I could use a friend.Ī soft knock raps at my door, and I hurry across the floor to open it. The lights in her room went dark hours ago, and I selfishly wish they hadn’t. Zo, my personal guard and closest friend here, isn’t on duty tonight, and she deserves time to sleep. It’s a movement I make without thought anymore, the way I would have flipped a light switch back home. I take the candle from my bedside, lighting it from the glowing embers on the hearth. Now the castle is crowded with nobles and servants and guards, and we are never truly alone.Īnd Grey is gone. Such a difference from when Ironrose was cursed, when the guard posts stood cold and dark and empty, when the only people to inhabit the castle were Rhen, Grey, and me. Outside, torches flicker on the guard posts that surround Ironrose, evenly spaced flares of light that keep the grounds from ever going truly dark.

The heat of the day has bled off, leaving cool air to stream through my open windows, and my fire has fallen to glowing embers.

Rhen and I have separate chambers, befitting the crown prince and the lady he’s to ally his kingdom with, but he always visits before retiring to his own room. Now I’m Princess Harper of Disi, and Emberfall hasn’t advanced to the point of having electricity. I’m no stranger to waiting in the darkness, but when I was on the streets I had my brother’s cell phone, and I’d count every minute. It’s one of the few things I regret leaving behind in Washington, DC, but when darkness has fallen, dinner feels like a distant memory, and Rhen has still not returned to his chambers, I want to know what time it is.

A heart so fierce and broken by brigid kemmerer