Sneak Peek at Broken Crown

 Hello, everyone! Today, I decided to share a sneak peek at Broken Crown, to celebrate entering the release month!

And, in case you missed it, pre-orders are live! 

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And, if you're interested in knowing more about the content found in Broken Crown, here is my blog post listing the content warnings. I strive for clean fiction, but also know that everyone has different ideas of clean. And so I like to provide the necessary info for potential readers or parents of potential readers!

 

Briley didn’t see the wasp until it was too late.

Elyssa promised a blackberry cobbler, and Alaric promised it was the best in the world.

Briley had her doubts, but it would be impolite of her to say no. So here she was, out in the scorching sun, with sweat dripping down her skin and mosquitoes buzzing around her head. And it was all for blackberries. She hated blackberries.

A sharp, burning pain shot through her palm. She hissed and snatched her hand away from the blackberry bush. And, of course, she cut herself on the thorns, too.

“Prick yourself?” Alaric asked from another bush. She could barely see the top of his head if she stood on tiptoes and stretched.

“A wasp got me.” She bit her lip and squinted to try to see if the stinger was still embedded in her hand. Her eyes were watering too much to focus on anything aside from the dirt and purple stains.

The bush rustled, then Alaric emerged. His hair had been pulled back into a very short braid to keep it off his neck. Sweat and mosquito bites covered his bare arms and shoulders. “‘Ere, let me see.”

Briley felt heat that had nothing to do with the summer afternoon sun creeping across her face and down her back. He took her small hand in his, then gently probed the area to look for the stinger.

He had taken off his tunic, and there were a few scratches on his toned body from the bushes. She’d never seen him shirtless before, she suddenly realized. And he was a lot fitter than she’d thought.

Alaric cleared his throat. “Something wrong?”

Briley snapped her eyes up to his own green ones, blushing hard. “N-no. Nothing’s wrong.”

She wanted to disappear into the tall grass and never look at him again. There had to be some way she could make this less awkward.

“You, um, you have more muscle than I thought a healer, um, would have,” she said weakly. Was it possible for someone to die of embarrassment?

Alaric laughed. “Yup. Raevyn’s not the only one ‘o trains with the guards.”

Briley cleared her throat and waved away a mosquito that tried to land on her nose. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t… it was wrong. I didn’t…”

“Briley.” He laid his hands on her thin shoulders to look her in the eye. “It’s fine. You’re kind of eye-level with my ‘ip, ‘ow could you not notice?”

Briley started to protest. She was in the wrong! She shouldn’t have looked at all. She should have focused on her sting, or the grass tickling her elbows, or the bug crawling over her bare foot.

Then she paused and narrowed her eyes. “Is that a short joke?” Did Alaric just joke?

He chuckled. The sound made her heart flutter. “Not a very good one, but yes.”

“I didn’t take you to be the joking sort.”

He shrugged and grinned. “I ‘ave my moments.”

An awkward silence settled then, broken only by a few bees buzzing past them. Alaric cleared his throat and nodded at her bowl. “I think we ‘ave enough for Mema.”

“Oh. Right. Yes.” Briley gave herself a shake, stepped aside to let him by, and then followed close behind him back to the settlement.

A few chickens darted out of the grass as they walked, one squawking to let all the world know she’d laid an egg. Briley paused her trek long enough to push the grass aside, revealing a couple eggs.

“Pesky ‘en, always ‘iding ‘er eggs,” Alaric grumbled, bending over to pick them up and carefully put them in his pockets.

“Just make sure you don’t forget they’re there.” Briley shook a small spider off her hand, wading through the waist-high grass. It tangled and caught over her knees, making walking difficult.

“I’ve done that before.” He grimaced. “Not pleasant.”

A comfortable silence settled over them after that.

“Pardon me for assuming,” she said softly once they were halfway to the settlement, “But you don’t seem like the type to train with guards. Or do you just work out with them?”

He slowed enough for her to catch up to him, thinking. “I like to know I can protect my family,” he said. “I ‘ave ‘ad to do so in the past. And I imagine there will be need of it again.”

There was something else there, and she could practically feel it. But pressing would be rude. If he wanted to tell her, he would.

Maybe she should change the subject, in case he was feeling awkward. “I do hope Elyssa’s cobbler is as good as you say. I’m not terribly fond of blackberries,” she said.

“Then why would you agree to eating it?” He paused. “Or drink the juice every time I gave you some?”

“Well, my grandmother raised me to be polite.”

“It’s not impolite to turn down food or drink.” They were nearing the settlement now. Briley turned her attention to the ground to keep from stepping in goat or chicken waste. “I’d rather not force a friend to eat something they can’t stand.”

“I… I suppose you have a point.” Still. If she was rude, well… she had to be perfect to prove she wasn’t—

She stopped in her tracks as it dawned on her. Alaric continued on a few steps, then turned back to look at her curiously.

“I’m not half demon,” she whispered. “None of you are demons. So I’m not half… er, I mean...” She swallowed and flushed. Did she really just say that out loud?

Alaric didn’t seem offended at all. Instead, he lay a hand on her shoulder—which meant his arm was around her and her heart started beating painfully against her chest. “People are quick to spread lies about something they do not understand.” His voice was soft. “You’re not ‘alf-demon because the world says you are. The world doesn’t control what you are or are not.”

Briley took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “I think I knew that,” she whispered. “I just thought, well, Grandmother and Grandfather were so worried. I suppose I adopted that mindset as well. I wanted to prove I was fully human like them.”

Alaric nodded. “It’s ‘ard, sometimes, when the world tells you you’re a demon. A monster. Something to be killed on sight. It gets to your ‘ead and you start believing it.”

He halted them just outside the row of buildings and faced her. “Don’t let it get to your ‘ead.” He gently tapped her forehead. “It ‘as no power over you, as long as you do not let it in. Remember that.”

She blinked. “I, I’ll try.”

“Good. Because you’re the furthest thing from a demon.” He grinned sideways and resumed his trek. “More like a tiny little angel.”

Briley blushed. “I wouldn’t say that.”

“I would.” He glanced at her. “And so would anyone ‘o really gets to know you.”

A pleasant warmth spread through her chest at that, and she grinned down at her feet. “Um, will you continue to think that even if I don’t like blackberry cobbler?”

Alaric pretended to ponder that for a moment. “I guess we will ‘ave to see.” He grinned down and her and loosely draped an arm around her shoulders. An act that sent her heart racing. “Only one way to find out, yes?”

Yes. Eating blackberry cobbler. Briley could think of a dozen other things she’d rather try. But, she’d already agreed to try. Nothing to do but follow through with it.