The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel.
I’ve spent my life kneeling―to their will and to my father's. As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king.
I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood.
But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my father’s throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life.
Now I’m crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as much as I despise him―bound to a future I didn’t choose and a husband I barely know.
Everyone wants me to be something I’m not―a queen, a spy, a sacrifice.
But what if I refused the role chosen for me? What if I made my own rules? What if there’s power in being underestimated?
And what if―for the first time―I reached for it?
Why You Should Read This Book
Tropes
Trigger Warnings
Shield of Sparrows
“I cannot trust you with all of my truths, Odessa. But I will give you as many as possible.”
“Quentis has never sent a Sparrow to Turah. Not in three hundred years. It’s been the other way around, but in the past nine marriages, never this way.”
“I am loyal to my people. Does it matter who they believe I am? A prince or a guardian? I strive to keep them safe. From the monsters with claws. And the monsters with crowns.
“You are not a pawn, Odessa. Not to me. You are the Sparrow. You are my wife. You are the future queen of Turah.”
“Did you ever stop to think that maybe the door to your cage has always been unlocked, Sparrow? And all you had to do was push it open?”
“Sore, my queen? We’ll have to add riding to your training regimen. That, or being ridden. I’ll have a word with Zavier.”
“She was yours. Now, she belongs to the prince. She’ll satisfy both the bride prize and the treaty. She’ll be our queen.”
“To find my wife.”
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