Crown of Blood and Stars by Dana LeeAnn EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Dana LeeAnn
- Language: English
- Genre: Greek & Roman Myth & Legend
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Time stood still in the woods.
Expiring leaves parted ancient trees, swaying in a downward descent.
The forest floor was littered with brittle foliage, not exactly ideal for
hunting. The rehabilitating silence of nature was fractured by the deafening
crunch of my boot. Winter approached faster than ever, and I was
determined to secure enough venison to last us through the harsh season.
Deer roamed the dense woods outside my poverty-stricken village. The
breeding season rut began when autumn leaves crisped, ending when night
extended longer than day. On occasion, I was lucky enough to encounter a
heavy-set buck with fire in his eyes, driven mad by high levels of
testosterone raging through his body. My family depended on the success
of my hunts to survive the grueling winters of Tartarus.
This year was tougher than most. Mother left her position at the school
to be my brother’s primary caregiver after he lost his leg in a hunting
accident. Deep in the woods with four friends, Arden was met by a
gruesome and unforgiving faerie. The faerie tore into them without
warning. It was a game. Tortured and toyed with, some were left for dead
to rot into the ground while others were left to struggle their way back to
Astrari with what limbs they still had intact.
Healing was difficult as he
battled not only infection, but the lack of will to live. He was left with
more emotional damage than physical. Some of his longest and closest
friends were with him that day. Images of his friends’ lifeless bodies strung
out before him haunted his dreams on a nightly basis. Mother tried to
comfort him through self-induced isolation, but I didn’t think he’d ever
recover.
Father provided what income he could, but it was scanty. He worked as
a landscaper throughout the kingdom, but there was little use of him after
King Demir manipulated how he invested tax back into Tartarus. Human
villages suffered greatly while faerie villages thrived with luxurious
mountains of gold. Countless jobs were lost to economic collapse, and we
were left to fend for ourselves. Father took on small jobs for the wealthy,
but they were few and far between.
Astrari villagers stuck together in the beginning but quickly fell apart
when we realized King Demir turned his back on humans. Not only did the
king abandon us, but so did the wealthy. Friends from the prosperous side
of town no longer spoke to me. Courting balls I once attended no longer
extended an invitation.
My close-knit family unraveled following Arden’s accident. I did
everything I could to keep our stomachs full. Hunting and trading became
essential roles in my life. After each hunt, I brought meat back to my small
family home, then headed to the market in search of a trade. Most days I
exchanged pelts for vegetables or mediocre spices to make stew. On the
rare occurrence I had a black fox hide, I managed to scrounge up a few gold
coins. Today I was determined to bring home a deer.
For More Read Download This Book
EPUB