Dawn of Cobalt Shadows (Burning Empire Book 2) by Emma Hamm (best e ink reader for manga .txt) 📕

they would be traded in a political alliance. She hadn’t thought love would ever be in the stars for her, let alone a man who took her breath away just by existing.

Camilla reached between them and traced a finger over his lips. Those beloved, bowed lips that always curved in a cat-like smile the moment he knew she was under his spell. He wanted her to tumble into bed with him and forget everything for a little bit longer.

She didn’t know how.

So many thoughts tangled in her mind, so many worries that made her want to scream. He didn’t understand how important this was that she do well. The Beastkin women weren’t just her people, they were her sisters. She’d grown up beside them, fighting with them, arguing with them until they were all blue in the face.

Disappointing them would be the greatest failure in her entire life. Worst of all, she didn’t think she could disappoint Sigrid like that.

“I can’t,” she whispered. “I have too much to do.”

“You always have something to do. Watching the forest for Jabbar and his people will only make you angrier. Let me take away all these thoughts for a little while.”

She was thoroughly tempted. He was tempting just by existing, but she knew this wasn’t the time or place. As much as she wanted to lose herself in him for a few hours, something was brewing in the air tonight. She didn’t know what it was or what it meant. The hairs on her arms hadn’t settled down in what felt like hours.

Something was coming. Something important, and she couldn’t be tangled up with a man when it happened.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, a knock on her door made her flinch. Camilla gestured for Najib to hide. No one knew about them yet, a fact she wanted to keep to herself.

The Wildewyn and Bymerian Beastkin still weren’t exactly friends. The loss of Sigrid had made that tension a little worse than it had been in a long time. They were all going to be walking on eggshells for a few more months before things settled down again.

She hoped Sigrid would return before that. But considering how many months she’d been gone…

Camilla didn’t want to think about that.

She rushed toward the door the moment Najib was hidden in the wooden wardrobe. Opening it, she cleared her throat and met the gaze of one of her sisters. This one turned into a goldfinch whenever she wished, a rather pretty but small other side of her soul.

“Yes?” Camilla asked.

“Message for you, Matriarch.”

The title was something she hadn’t wanted, but the other woman insisted on calling her it. Taking a deep breath, she took the offered note in her sister’s hand and nodded. “Thank you. Go back with the others.”

“Matriarch—”

If Camilla had learned anything from Sigrid, it was that being harsh was sometimes the best option. She sharpened her tone and snapped, “Back with the others.”

A swell of pride rose in the other woman’s eyes. She curtseyed small, gave her a tight smile, and made her way back down the winding stairwell where the others waited.

She didn’t want to appear cruel. Sometimes this felt a little more brutal than it should be. Sigrid’s voice in her mind whispered they needed someone strong. Someone who could throw them all to the ground and teach them how to be better if it came to that.

Such was the only person a Beastkin would respect.

Najib opened the wardrobe door, a goofy grin on his face. “Is it safe to come out yet? I wouldn’t want anyone to know you’ve found a little bit of happiness.”

“Enough.”

“I’ll let you know when it’s enough.” He jolted forward, racing toward her and lifting her high up in his arms. He squeezed her so hard she squeaked, then laughed deep in her belly at his antics.

“Stop it, Najib. I have a letter. I have to read it.”

He let her drop back to the floor then dramatically fell back on her bed. “By all means. I wouldn’t want to stand in the way of the great matriarch. I’m sure there’s far more important things for you to be doing right now.”

“Instead of you?”

He lifted a brow but didn’t respond.

Camilla snorted and snapped the wax seal on the rolled up scroll in her hand. This was likely yet another close neighbor asking for their assistance. She hated saying no to all those leaders whom they had helped before.

Sigrid was right in that the humans needed help. Someone was going to have to break. Either they needed to learn how to take care of themselves, or the Beastkin would start doing things for them again.

They weren’t beasts of burden like the Bymerians were. Perhaps that’s what Jabbar’s people worried about the most. The Earthen folk weren’t going to send the Beastkin to work in the fields. They weren’t interested in that kind of labor.

But the Beastkin women had played a large part in keeping the kingdom together. Carrier birds with important letters that could only be trusted with a Beastkin. Standing beside a local ruler as a reminder there were more dangerous things than a royal edict. Too many things for her to count.

The Beastkin were a way to remind people that danger lurked in the shadows. She thought, perhaps, that would be a good place to start once again. Having some kind of currency would only help their kingdom. No matter that Woodcrest was far away from everyone else. The world had a way of getting smaller with every breath.

Unrolling the parchment, she tried hard not to show any reaction the moment she recognized the looping script. Only Hallmar had worked on his letters for this long so that every word was like a piece of artwork.

She used to sneak into his room just to read his writing. It didn’t matter what he had written about. Sometimes it was just the boring recounting of all the things he’d seen in the kingdom. Fields that needed tending,