Reign of Blood and Poison
Reign of Blood and Poison
The Aermian Feuds
Frost Kay
Contents
Also By Frost Kay
Kingdoms of Aermia
Part I
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Part II
Prologue
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Epilogue
Sage
Jasmine
Sage
Hardcovers
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Reign of Blood and Poison
Copyright © 2021 by Frost Kay.
First Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any format or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
For information on reproducing sections of this book or sales of this book go to www.frostkay.net
Cover by Combs
Copy Editing by Madeline Dyer
Proofreading by Holmes Edits & Red Ninja Edits
Created with Vellum
Also By Frost Kay
THE AERMIAN FEUDS
(Dark Epic Fantasy)
Rebel’s Blade
Crown’s Shield
Siren’s Lure
Enemy’s Queen
King’s Warrior
Warlord’s Shadow
Spy’s Mask
Court’s Fool
Prince’s Poison
* * *
THE TWISTED KINGDOMS
(Epic Fantasy/Fairytale Retelling)
The Hunt
The Rook
The Heir
The Beast
The Hood
* * *
DRAGON ISLE WARS
(Epic Fantasy)
Court of Dragons
* * *
DOMINION OF ASH
(Post Apocalyptic Fantasy)
The Stain
The Tainted
The Exiled
The Fallout
The Chosen (2022)
* * *
MIXOLOGISTS & PIRATES
(Sci-Fi Fantasy)
Amber Vial
Emerald Bane
Scarlet Venom
Cyan Toxin
Onyx Elixir
Indigo Alloy
This book is for all the readers who have stuck with me from my very first book. Your experiences in life and your willingness to share them is what helped me to create real characters that stick with you long after the book is finished. Love you guys!
Kingdoms of Aermia
Part I
The Spy’s Mask
Prologue
Monsters.
Torment.
The myths and legends she’d once been told in the dead of night as a prank by friends weren’t supposed to be real. It was all fun and games, a thrill. But what those innocents didn’t understand was there were things in life, real things that rivaled any scary story. Hell and demons of their own making.
Sage wished what had befallen those around her was just a story, a fable to dismiss from her mind. But life was a cruel, fickle, and beautiful being that had no rhyme or reason. One never knew when whims would bless or curse you. Just the smallest detail could tip the scale.
From the beginning, life seemed to rage against Sage, a constant force that wore her down to her very bones. There were many paths for the rebel princess to travel, and they all led to one outcome:
Blood.
War.
Chapter 1
The Warlord
Zane smiled as he watched the Aermian army scurry about like ants as they built their camps. They had thought they were so clever. But they were just children really, playing at being warriors. They had no idea what the future held.
Ignorant.
They were ignorant of his spies. Ignorant that their greatest enemy walked among them. A leren among babes.
He stilled and glanced over his shoulder as awareness tingled over his skin. His sixth sense. She was near. He narrowed his eyes at the approaching royal party. The crown prince led the group, but Zane didn’t care. He only had eyes for one person: the goddess in armor and war paint.
“Sage,” he whispered, his tone thick with covetousness. His consort stole his breath away, her beauty so bright it felt like it burned him where he stood. A spark of pride lit inside his chest at the Tia paint that adorned her face in savage strokes that he couldn’t help but find lovely. He never imagined he’d see her in his people’s war paint. Possession and something darker wriggled in his chest.
Ours, the voices in his head whispered.
Fierce. Bold. Deadly. A dark queen he couldn’t wait to get his hands on.
Zane kept his head bowed as the group passed him. His fingers
brushed her cloak for one second before he receded into the bustling camp, just another Aermian soldier following his orders. He could steal her away now, but that would be too easy.
His consort had challenged him, and Zane loved a good fight. No, he wouldn’t take her this day. He’d wait for her to surrender, and it would be all the sweeter.
Zane adjusted his cloak and grinned.
Soon enough, she’d bow to him. All he needed was a little patience. His consort would grace him with her presence soon enough.
Then, he’d destroy her world.
Chapter 2
Sage
Her legs wavered as she approached Ezra. Her mind was screaming at her to stop, to turn back, but no matter how much she struggled, Sage found herself standing before the Sirenidae, the warlord’s heat at her back as a thousand pairs of bloodthirsty eyes watched them. The large sword swayed slightly as she hefted it up, the tip hovering against the pale skin of the healer’s neck.
Ezra smiled at her, his mouth twisting in a way that seemed like he was laughing at her, before he began to weep at her feet.
“I’m sorry,” she choked out, hating that her fingers wouldn’t release the blade. “This is not how it’s supposed to be.”
His cries cut off as he looked up, his eyes changing from magenta to black. “Murderer,” he hissed.
Sage jerked as if he’d slapped her. “I don’t want to do this. I can’t do this,” she pleaded.
“You have to,” the warlord whispered in her ear, his warm breath tickling her neck.
The hair on her arms rose, and her stomach rolled as she cringed away from the body leaning over her from behind. “Leave me alone!”
“If I can’t escape you, how is it fair that you escape me?”
She stumbled a step closer to Ezra, her blade slicing dangerously close to his neck. Tears burned the back of her eyes, but she wouldn’t let them fall. How could she cry for herself when she was the one committing the crime?
“It’s okay, Sage,” Ezra whispered, his voice strangely hollow. He leaned closer to the blade, the sword biting into the delicate skin, just below his hammering pulse. “I knew what you were when I saw you.”
She cried out as he impaled himself on her sword. “No, no, no, no,” she screamed, releasing the sword and falling to her knees. Ezra’s mouth pursed as his blood pooled and spilled over his lips.
“He’s not the only monster,” Ezra whispered as he fell to the ground, his white hair turning red as it splayed around him.
Sage held up her shaking hands and stared at the blood that coated her palms. She was a killer.
A hand cupped her chin and forced her to stare at the warlord.
He smiled, flashing sharp fangs as he brushed a bloodstained finger along her bottom lip. “You’re perfect for me.”
“I’m nothing to you.”
He tsked and knelt so they were at the same eye level. “On the contrary. Like calls to like.” He jerked his chin to the right. “Look at the ruin you’ve caused.”
Sage turned and screamed as bodies upon bodies lay in heaps around her.
She jerked awake and sat up, her heart racing. Her nightgown clung to her body, soaked with sweat. Her own breaths were heavy in her ears as she tried to orientate herself. A lantern hung from the ceiling of her sprawling tent, giving off just enough light for her to see Tehl’s still form next to her.
Sage placed a hand over her pounding heart and tried to calm it down. You’re not there. You’re safe. It had been two weeks since she’d arrived at the camp, and each night, her nightmares had escalated.
Throwing back the blankets, she rolled out of the makeshift bed, quickly donned her leather breeches and boots, and tucked her nightgown into her pants.
“Are you all right?” Tehl asked, his voice rough with sleep.
Sage peered over her shoulder at her husband who stared at her with concern. “I’m fine.”
“You were talking in your sleep. I don’t think you’re fine at all. Plus, Sam says when women use the word ‘fine,’ it means the exact opposite.”
She turned fully and crawled across their pallets to peck him on the lips. “Well, your brother doesn’t usually give the best advice,” she joked. She cursed internally at how, even to her own ears, her tone was off.
Tehl cupped her left cheek with his right hand and smoothed his thumb along her cheekbone. “I’m worried for you, love.”
“I’ll be all right.” She had to be. There wasn’t another choice.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Hold me when I get back?”
He stretched and kissed her softly. “I’ll be waiting.”
Sage reached up and squeezed his hand before crawling out of the bed and moving through the tent in the direction of the door. She retrieved her discarded cloak from the simple wooden chair in the corner and threw it on to ward off the night’s chill.
Tehl’s voice caused her to pause as she lifted the tent flap.
“Be safe.”
“Always.”
Guilt assaulted her as she stepped into the crisp night air. Puffs of white steam escaped from her mouth. Damn. It was getting colder every night, and the weather in the plains was more frigid than anything she’d ever experienced in her life.
Sage stomped her feet a few times and lifted the cloak’s hood to protect her neck from the chilly air, nodding at the two guards stationed outside their tent. Garreth whispered something softly to the other guard and stepped away from them, moving to Sage’s side—her silent sentinel.
Without one word, they began their walk through the camp, and her protection detail melted from the shadows and fanned out to circle her. Fires burned low, softly crackling—the only sound except for the occasional snore and the rustle of her cloak in the breeze.
“Rough night?” Garreth asked, his voice no louder than a whisper.
Sage nodded, her chest tight. She couldn’t get Ezra’s hate-filled face out of her mind. Reaching the edge of the camp, she acknowledged the guards on the perimeter patrol with a tip of her chin and continued her walk. By now, the men were used to her unusual nightly routine.
They paced around the enormous camp until they reached their destination. A huge rock sat at the forefront of the camp, an old relic of the Mort Wall that was never used. She clambered up the side and plopped down. Garreth followed suit, only pausing to make some sort of signal to her protection detail.
At one time, she would have begrudged the extra men, but now she appreciated their protection and Garreth’s discretion. She understood their necessity. Sometimes one had to give up a little freedom to stay safe. Plus, she rarely spotted the men that trailed her everywhere she went.
Seemingly satisfied, he sat beside her and loosely clasped his fingers between his legs.
A black shadow solidified below the rock and blinked reflective golden eyes. Sage smiled at Nali. The leren had made friends with the men easily. At first, they’d been wary of her, but after they’d been introduced to the fiilee, the maneater was considered the lesser of evils.
Nali chuffed and then slunk into the meadow, disappearing like a ghost.
“Still unnerves me,” her guard muttered.
“Mistress of the night,” Sage said.
“What I wouldn’t give to have stalking skills like that.”
A smile touched her lips. The man already did. “Your skills are nothing to snub your nose at. If I didn’t know any better, I would say you’re akin to Nali.”
Garreth snorted. “What gave it away? Our temperament?”
She laughed, the sound surprising her, but, almost immediately, she sobered as she stared at the far-away lights of the Scythian camp. The fires burned brightly just beyond the Mort Wall, casting ghoulish shadows into the night.
He was there.
A shiver worked down her spine. He’d be watching her as surely as she was watching him.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
No, she didn’t, but when she ope
ned her mouth to say just that, something else came out instead. “I murdered someone.”
The silence hung between them. She continued to stare blankly at the Scythian camp, waiting for Garreth’s judgement.
“War is a nasty thing. We’re all capable of things we never thought possible.”
True, but not applicable to her situation. “He was my friend.” Her whispered confession tore her heart.