by SM Blooding
Praise for Knight of Wands
A lot of women read books and fall in love with the main male character calling them their book boyfriends. Well I am in love with Synn, but not in a book boyfriend sense. He just seems so real to me. In a steampunk world, it is easy for characters not to be real, but Synn is different some how. It might be because you get to read all of his thought processes and they show you how human he is. It could just be amazing writing. I don't know, but I can't wait to read the third book now. Phaedra Seabolt
Praise for Fall of Sky City
Wow! What did I just read?? The story was deliciously complex, full of fear, wonder, magic, gadgets, gizmos, one heck of a psycho Queen and wonderful friends. Every character brought something to the story, each with a unique personality that came to life through the book, each with their own fears to overcome. Victoria Limbert
I love the world Blooding has created. She managed to create it in a way that it combines specs of all my favorite movies, books, etc. It’s a mixture of young adult fantasy, steam punk, dystopia, sci-fi, paranormal and even some tiny bit of romance. Fall of Sky City is a diverse book that is intense, a little bit violent, and a whole lot of awesome! I look forward to reading the next book of the series! Unputdownable Books
Return to a world of mind blowing visuals, heart stopping action, and ships that sail the skies.
Nix, Queen of Wands, has exactly what she wants—Synn El’Asim, the greatest Mark the world has ever seen. Even though she bound his soul to hers, he is not easily controlled. If she wants him, she must do the one thing that pains her most. Let him go, and give him what he desires. Peace.
Armed with a treaty bearing Nix’s seal, Synn sets off to bridge the gap between the world’s two reigning tyrants—the Hands of Tarot and the Great Families. He struggles to trust Nix as he fights for control of his soul. He’s going to need every ounce of restraint when dealing with his mother, leader of the Great Families. She will not give up her power without a fight. Nix will honor her treaty only if Synn agrees to become her knight. His mother refuses to sign the peace agreement if he falls into the queen’s control.
Frustrated, Synn does the one thing neither woman saw coming. He invites all the tribes, currently voiceless in the war between these two ruling tyrants, to partake in the treaty negotiations. All they have to do is prove their worth in his Peace Games. As Synn’s influence and subsequent power grows, a new fight begins.
Who will control Synn’s League of Cities? Can he protect more people as a leader of the Great Families, or as the Knight of Wands?
This is a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events within this book are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to business establishments, actual persons, or events is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Blooding Books
Denver, CO
Copyright © 2013 SM Blooding
All rights reserved.
Per the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any form without written permission from the publisher. Please only purchase authorized editions.
Cover Design by Ravven Glass
Interior Design by Once Upon A Time Covers
Formatted by Anastasia Creatives
Edited by Ralene Burke
Proofread by Veronica Roland
Published by Blooding Books
Blooding Books
Denver, CO
Visit our website at:
www.smblooding.com
ISBN 10: 1492914223
ISBN 13: 978-1492914228
Other works by SM Blooding:
Chronicles of Illona (NA Steampunk Adventure)
Devices of War Trilogy
Fall of Sky City
Knight of Wands
The Dream Killers
Season 1
Pilot Episode: Graveyard of Dreams (Dec 2013)
The Demon Talker Novels
Demons Are Jackasses
With Just Ink:
Dreamland Stories (Fairytale Romance)
Nightmare’s Dream (2014)
DEDICATION
To Dad.
I have always looked up to you.
To Krista.
You see things I don’t.
To my girls.
Never lose your voice.
Fight. Never let it go.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgment
Prologue
1 A Knight in the Making
2 Trust
3 Nix’s Peace
4 Doing What’s Right
5 A Night with Nix
6 Stumbling My Way Back Home
7 Flashing Rain
8 Peacock Rock
9 Reuniting with Family
10 Assuring I’m Real
11 Sending Out the Invitations
12 Let the Games Begin
13 Backlash
14 A Night of Revelry
15 Survival
16 Let’s Not Die
17 My Shadow
18 Full Moon Dance
19 To Hunt a Feather
20 Conspiracy, Conspiracy
21 A Review of the Situation
22 Rescue and Assist
23 Midnight Council
24 The Peace Games Begin
25 Dancing
26 Air Games, Take Two
27 Vodka and Lightning
28 The League of Cities
29 To Prove a Leader
30 Being the El’Asim
31 Justice in Silence
32 Tug of War
33 Finding Direction in a Sea of Wind
34 The Message
35 A Council of Caution
36 The Journalist
37 A Day of Weddings
38 Gone
Epilogue
Sneak Peak at Menagerie
Glossary
About the Author
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book wouldn’t have made it to publication without a lot of help! From my fans to my friends, I received a lot of great support. You kept me going when I wasn’t sure I could go any further. Thank you.
I want to send a special thank you to my illustrator, Ravven, and my host of editors! OMW! You guys made this story really gleam! You are all so awesome!
Krista, thanks for not giving up on me, kid. You’re a pain in my butt, but, good grief, I love you!
Dre, thanks for pushing me. She’d always be like, “Where is it? Why isn’t in my hands yet? Stop telling me it’s not good enough. It’s good enough for me. Now give me the damn book!” Thanks for being such a super friend.
Veronica has been a rock. You push yourself and give me someone to aspire to be. You’re an amazing woman.
PROLOGUE
Devices for war are always turning. People with eyes on power are always conniving, and too many see war as the only solution to tyranny. ~ Kadar Mubarak El’Asim
THE HANDS of Tarot are my greatest enemy. They threaten everything I believe in and stand for. For all that they preach peace through the gentle teachings of their religion and through the guidance of their goddess, Tarot, they rule our lives with great force.
The leaders of my parents’ generation allowed them power for a reason, though. They’d discovered someone more ruthless.
The Arrows were a society of manipulative politicians and assassins. No one could say they’d seen one.
Arrows didn’t wear a uniform, or an insignia. They walked in shadow, infiltrating every high ranking family, every tribe, every religion. There wasn’t a single move any person made in the gain of power that an Arrow wasn’t behind.
So how did anyone know about them? That’s the same question I asked.
A man took power from the Ears of the Priests, claiming to be an Arrow. The three major tribal families of the time were decimated from within, disappearing overnight. Mother’s eyes fill with fright whenever those days are mentioned. No one could be trusted. No one knew who these Arrows were, what they wanted, or what they would do next. They simply knew that the Arrows were powerful and worked in mysterious silence.
That man didn’t stay in power long. When the people supporting you are shadows, it’s hard to use them to stay in power.
My father investigated the Arrows. Even shadows can be seen, if there is light. Together with my mother, they tracked these powerful assassins down, pulled them from their beds and made them disappear. Justice was found.
Neither of them said a single word about how they did it, what was said, or even what the Arrows looked like. They only said the world had been saved.
After that, Mother and Father united their two tribes and created the council of the Seven Great Families. The Arrows disappeared.
But I often wonder.
How can we be certain they were eradicated when we never knew who they were? And if they weren’t destroyed, then where are they? What are they doing? What are they planning?
I pray to the Sky Father we never find out. I have enough to deal with already.
CHAPTER 1
A KNIGHT IN THE MAKING
Detox.
That’s what they called it anyway. I’d been out in the real world too long.
The elements of my power surrounded me; fire and lava. Stone, round walls cut me off from the light from our suns.
Powerless.
I had no way of manipulating the fire in the stone channels bordering this small room. They had to have slipped a drug into my water. I couldn’t even lift my Mark from my sweat-soaked body. I was at her mercy.
Dyna, Queen of Swords.
When I’d saved Sky City after Queen Nix brought it tumbling from the sky, Dyna had offered me a way out, a way to save the tribal families, to seek revenge for what Nix had done.
This wasn’t training, and there was no way out.
I was supposed to forget. Bound, starved, only water to drink for days. Forget my past life with the families, forget those I loved, those I’d lost. Remember only the love of the Hands. They were my family now.
Never!
The song of the Hands filled the small space, bouncing off the pale gray walls, building over the rasping roar of the fire, the gurgling spit of the bubbling lava.
In the days of old, before the light of the Hands . . . ”
I was supposed to forget how wonderful it was to be free.
“ . . . darkness bled through the night of the land.”
To watch the stars, and the sleeping red planet, Kel’mar, rule the sky. The blazing asteroid belt rising above us in blues and greens and oranges and reds.
“To harry the weak, and strengthen the bold . . . ”
How it felt to be surrounded by the fleet of my Family as we ruled and protected the skies.
“We are the family to hold you close . . . ”
El’Asim.
“ . . . to comfort and protect . . . ”
To forget the carnage brought by the Hands of Tarot, specifically Nix, Queen of Wands.
“ . . . to love you when you’ve been forsaken . . . ”
To forget the looks on the faces of the Umira children as they were forced to watch their fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents burn.
“That is the vow of the Hands of Tarot.”
To forget the smell of their burned flesh as Nix made her point, letting me know that defying her was senseless and would only end in the suffering of those I loved.
“ . . . to keep you safe . . . ”
To know what it felt like to watch children die because I refused to submit.
“ . . . to keep you warm . . . ”
I was supposed to forget the sound of a lethara dying as he fought to save the humans living in his gigantic jellyfish tentacles . . .
“ . . . to lift you up . . . ”
. . . as the Hands blew him up, his tentacles twisting in the air as he fell into the poisoned ocean, the screams of his people, his humans, deafening his own.
“ . . . when you fall . . . ”
I was supposed to forget my Family.
“You need no other . . . ”
El’Asim.
“ . . . to love and protect you . . . ”
I was supposed to remove any trace of love or loyalty toward them, and love only her.
“We are your savior, your protector, your harbinger of truth.”
Nix. Queen of Wands, keeper of my soul.
“Join us, love us, live . . . ”
I was supposed to embrace my new identity.
“Join us, love us, live . . . ”
Synn Primus, son and knight of the House of Wands, to join her as my ravaged heart wanted to. I was to remove all reason to hate her, any motive to resist the bond she’d placed on my soul. I was to follow her, give her my undying trust.
“Join us, love us, live . . . ”
That thought fueled my rage, my hunger for justice.
The Families would be avenged. That monster of a woman would not win.
“Synn,” a voice like an icy sword said, talking over the words of her song.
My eyes barely had the energy to open. My arms were pulled to either side, bound to the walls. Thick ropes wrapped around my chest, suspending me in mid-air. More ropes tethered my legs to the floor. I hadn’t moved in days.
The heels of her boots clipped the stone in a slow, circling gait. “You’re doing well.”
I clenched my teeth and let my head fall forward, not because I wanted to, but because I had no energy to hold it up.
Her cool hand cupped my cheek, lifting my head to meet her steel gaze. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a severe braid, her body sheathed in a uniform of pale blue leather and shining silver. “You are our hope, Synn.”
I tried to use my rage to focus, but it wasn’t enough.
“Remember who you are.”
I would never be a Primus.
Her eye twitched. “Good. You are, and always should be El’Asim.”
What? What was all of this for if not to make me forget?
“Yes.” Her expression softened. “You’re not here to be broken. That is not my intention.”
My breaths were shallow in the restraints. If this wasn’t to break me, then what was it?
Her empty hand rose to cup my other cheek, her long fingers like ice. “To build you, fuel you. That is the only thing that will sever the bond my sister has put on you. You are too powerful a creature to be within her control.”
I agreed, but did she really think this was the cure for what Nix had done to me? What was she intending? To break me in other ways? Perhaps bind my soul to her instead?
“I have to be able to trust you. The things we are about to do, Synn.” She shook her head. “If we fail . . . ” She closed her eyes, her mouth open. “If we fail, the world will no longer be worth living in.”
“The world—” Dear Sky! Was that my voice? I swallowed. My mouth was beyond dry. The last time they’d offered me water, I’d spat it out, refusing to be drugged. I needed to reach my Mark, to use the lava around me to break free of this cell.
“Yes, Synn.” Her jaw ticked as she pulled my head to meet her lips. Her lips pressed on my forehead for a long moment before she let me go. “The world will go on. I have no doubt, but would it be a place we’d wish to live?”
I studied her as she pulled away. What was she doing? Was this another attempt to win my allegiance? If that were the case, torture wasn’
t her best approach.
The only thing I saw was sorrow, tear-studded eyes shining with honesty.
I blinked, confused. Could I believe the emotions I saw? Or was this simply another game?
She licked her lips. “She’s—Nix has gotten worse. She’s beome—” Dyna’s small nostrils flared, her mouth open. “She must be stopped.” Her eyes met mine. “Synn Kadar El’Asim.”
“Let me . . . ” Talking hurt, my throat was so dry. “ . . . out.”
Her lips flattened. “Not yet. You’re not ready.”
I reached for the lava, for the fire, fighting to find the source of my power, to use what was all around me to free myself.
Nothing.
I sagged where I was bound, all of my energy spent.
“Let the love of the Hands lift you up, banish your despair.”
Queen Dyna rose to her full height, a mask of steel settling over her features. “I have brought someone.” She turned toward the door.
I couldn’t see around her.
The swishing of cloth and the tinkling of tiny bells bounced off the stone walls.
Dyna turned her attention back to me. “This is High Priestess Aiyanna. Synn, she can be trusted.”
I frowned. Seriously? How could I trust any of them?
The Queen of Swords took my face in her hands, my gaze captured in hers. “Let her in, Synn El’Asim. Let her heal the wounds inside your heart. Let her remove the weapons you harbor. Nix will use them against you.”
I tried to pull out of her grasp.
“Do this, Synn, and you shall have your vengeance.” Dyna let go. “Be kind to him, Aiyanna. Tarot knows he hasn’t been shown much kindness from the Hands.”
With the queen no longer blocking my view, I could see the high priestess. She reminded me of Oki, my oldest sister.
A memory of Oki’s round face hovered in my mind’s eye, her slanted brown eyes gleaming with mischief.
A finger of curiosity touched that thought.
I frowned. Was this the drugs? If so, why was this the first time I’d felt this? Someone else was inside my mind. How was that even possible?
A feather of thought that didn’t belong to me touched the memories of my sister.
I banished the vision of Oki, closed off my thoughts, and studied the woman before me.
