The Art of Courts and Lies (Book 1 in The Gifted Trilogy)
  • Reads 106,377
  • Votes 6,188
  • Parts 52
  • Time 10h 46m
  • Reads 106,377
  • Votes 6,188
  • Parts 52
  • Time 10h 46m
Complete, First published Jan 04, 2018
Ice flooded my veins as the realization of who he was hit me. It must have been evident on my face because the man in front of me let out a dark laugh.

"Oh dear, you didn't realize you were talking to a royal, did you darling?" he crooned.

Not just any royal. Kesserian Cinis. The recently coronated king and ruler over the Ember Court. I forgot how to breathe, my mind whirring as it tried to figure out how I could have been so stupid as to let this happen.

***************************************************

Wren Heatherfield is on the run. Having turned 18, she is now in danger of becoming selected for the Garner, a deadly game in which the six kings who rule over her continent take eighteen non-magical girls and make them fight for their lives. But as she tries to avoid the game by running away with her best friend and her sister, she consequently finds herself doomed to be a competitor in the 246th Garner.

But the Garner isn't the only thing capable of killing her. In a castle surrounded by kings with dark powers and girls fighting for their lives, she may find that the politics of royalty can be just as deadly as their games.

No one can be trusted in a palace full of monsters and, if Wren has any hopes of survival, she may have to become one herself.
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Valarie of secrets

16 parts Ongoing Mature

"𝕀 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕪𝕠𝕦-𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕖𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕦𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪." __________________________________________ Valrie didn't deserve what happened to her. Taken away from her at a young age were the only two people who would love her no matter what-her parents. Their love was all-consuming, the kind that anchored her, until the day it vanished in a single breath, a flash of arrows. Now, all she had left was the memory of that love-a fragile thread she clung to, one that only made the darkness around her grow deeper. By the age of nineteen, Valrie and her sister found themselves in an orphan house, working the land to survive. They grew and harvested ingredients, selling them to market buyers and the kingdom to stay afloat. But desperation leads to mistakes, and one day, they were caught "stealing" from the kingdom itself. The punishment was swift, and they were dragged to Eirondale-a breathtaking kingdom with towering castles and lush landscapes, ruled by a cold-hearted dynasty that thrives on power and control. The beauty of the kingdom was suffocating, like a thorned rose, stunning yet deadly. Among the grand halls and cold stone walls, Valrie soon caught the eye of not one, but two princely brothers, both equally dangerous and cruel in their own ways. But it wasn't just the princes. The King-ruthless and feared-had taken a darker interest in Valrie. In this world of beauty and malice, where power ruled and compassion was scarce, Valrie had unknowingly become a pawn in a game far more sinister than she could have imagined. Now, she had to navigate the dangers of a royal court, where everyone wore a mask of grace but wielded daggers of ambition and deceit behind their backs. The princes might toy with her heart, but the King... he could destroy her entirely.