Title: The Sun and Moon beneath the Stars
Author: K. Parr
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: March 4, 2019
Heat Level: 1 - No Sex
Pairing: Female/Female
Length: 82700
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, LGBT, YA, Fantasy, F/F, Sweet Romance, Adventure, Sword and Sorcery
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Synopsis
After being orphaned and forced to work
as a palace slave, fifteen-year-old Rasha decides to end her life, but when she
plunges a knife into her chest, she doesn’t die. Instead, a strange, icy power
possesses her. The last time it took over, someone got hurt, and Rasha can’t
let that happen again.
But she’s got bigger problems. Her twin
brother is alive, yet held captive by Solaris, a powerful sorcerer. When Rasha
runs into Adriana, the selfish princess she once served, they discover Solaris
is a common enemy since he destroyed the palace and kidnapped Adriana’s
parents.
Together, Rasha and Adriana set out on a
rescue mission. Personalities clash and tempers flare, but other feelings
surface as well, feelings neither girl could have predicted.
And with the help of a ragtag group of
companions, they might just be able to succeed on their quest…until an ancient
evil emerges to wreak vengeance on their world.
Excerpt
The Sun and Moon Beneath the Stars
K. Parr © 2019
All Rights Reserved
Chapter One
Rasha’s knife glinted in the moonlight,
sending a reflective beam skittering across the waves. The Sea of Mishal
crashed to shore and tugged at her skirts while her feet remained buried in the
silt. She didn’t register the cold of the water, nor the grittiness of the
sand, and though her gaze was fixed on the horizon, her focus remained on the
knife quivering in her grasp.
Eight years ago to the day, Rasha had
washed ashore on this very beach and begun her new life as an orphan, an
outsider.
And now was the perfect time to end it.
A salty breeze tossed black hair into
her eyes, and she blinked away the stinging strands. Her cloak and dress
flapped, heavier at the hems where water soaked through. She tightened her hold
on the knife, though the calluses on her hands prevented her from feeling the
smooth ivory or polished silver. She’d spent most of her life washing utensils
for the royal family, and it’d been easy to smuggle this one into the pocket of
her servant’s uniform.
In the distance, Rasha imagined the
twinkling lights of her homeland, the island of Kcharma. Even though her people
had cast her out, she refused to waste her last breath among those who reviled
her simply for being Numenarkan. Eight years of punishment was enough. She’d
served her penance and would join her family in the afterlife. She prayed
whatever gods existed would allow her that much, at least.
Rasha tilted the knife so the tip
pressed beneath her sternum, angled up toward her heart. She inhaled a shaky
breath and drew back the weapon, visualizing the arc from air to flesh. She
couldn’t miss.
She closed her eyes. The waves crashed.
She plunged the knife into her chest.
For an instant, blinding, searing pain
screamed through every nerve in her body.
And then…nothing.
Rasha opened her eyes. The hilt of the
knife protruded from her chest, but no blood pooled, as if she’d stabbed a
doll, only she couldn’t breathe.
An icy sensation started in her toes,
and the tingling numbness spread up through her calves, then her thighs. The
cold froze her pelvis and stomach and locked her arms to her sides. She
trembled and fought the feeling, envisioning warmth, but it was too late. The
ice darkened her vision, and she remembered.
When the ice first claimed her long ago,
she and her family were banished.
Now, right before the cold wormed its
way into her mind, her last thought was fear over who she would hurt this time.
Princess Adriana ven Kerrick slept
fitfully. She tossed and turned on silken sheets but couldn’t get comfortable. Her
nightgown bunched beneath her, and she smoothed it with a quick tug.
Tomorrow she turned sixteen, and her
father would officially name her heir apparent. All her training prepared her
for this, but doubt still rankled, not at her own performance, but at her
father’s approval. Over the years, he’d displayed obvious disappointment over
the miscarriages of her siblings, yet spared little more than a nod to his only
living child. Did he not want Adriana to succeed him?
Queen Estelle, who had only a few hours
ago plaited Adriana’s long, white-blonde hair into a loose braid, assured
Adriana her fears were unfounded. King Romulet loved his daughter and was proud
of all she had accomplished in her studies. She would make an excellent ruler.
Adriana shifted onto her back and let
out a frustrated sigh.
Strange thunder crashed, causing her
whole bedframe to quiver. Adriana shot up, wide awake. The palace rumbled and
shook on its foundation. The candles the servant lit before bed flickered
eerily against the stone walls of her room. The glass windowpanes rattled in
their frames.
She shivered in the abruptly still air.
The commotion was probably an earthquake, or perhaps an accident in the
kitchens. Unless…
Adriana threw off the sheets and pulled
on slippers. Just as she stood, her bedroom door flew open. Queen Estelle
marched into the room, breathing hard. Her own white-blonde hair flew about her
face, and she wore a thin robe over her nightclothes.
“Adriana, come. We must hurry.” The
queen grabbed Adriana’s hand and dragged her into the corridors. Servants
scrambled around in confusion, their voices low.
“What’s going on?” Adriana demanded as
they darted through the halls.
“It’s Solaris. He’s finally attacked.”
Adriana gasped. Distantly, people
screamed, and metal clanged. Smoke billowed in the corridors and lodged in her
throat. She coughed at the burning sensation.
Queen Estelle pushed through the throngs
of people toward the western wing, where the guest suites were located. They
were empty now, as they had always been. The smoke thickened around them, black
and roiling.
“Head down,” the queen said.
They ducked beneath the smoke, their
footsteps muffled on the carpeted floors. Scuffles broke out far behind them,
back near Adriana’s room, and shouts echoed.
Adriana trembled. Her eyes stung with
smoke. The torches were sporadically lit, many having burned to the last nub
from neglect. In the darkness, the walls closed in on her, and her gaze jumped
from shadow to shadow, wary of attackers.
At another concussive explosion, Adriana
fell forward into her mother, who steadied them both against the wall beneath a
dying torch.
“What’s happening?” Adriana asked again.
Queen Estelle wound an arm around
Adriana’s shoulders and squeezed. She spoke in a quiet yet firm voice. “Solaris
is a mage.”
“But how? I thought the war eliminated
them.”
The weak torchlight accentuated the
hollows on the queen’s face. “Magic was lost, but not gone.”
“But Solaris—? The rumors are true?”
Was Solaris Numenarkan, then? No matter
what Adriana’s people did, the Numenarkans would never lift their ancient
grudge, and now they had a powerful mage on their side.
The queen shook her head. “We don’t know
if he’s Numenarkan.”
“Then how do you know he’s the one
attacking us?”
“Because he said he would.” Her jaw
clenched. “Your father crumpled up the missive and threw it into the fire.”
“What does he want?”
Her mother’s eyes shone. She shook her
head. “There’s something I should’ve told you a long time ago, but I was too
afraid. And I wasn’t sure…” She inhaled a bracing breath. “It didn’t work on
your siblings—they were born without life. I couldn’t give them what they’d
never had.”
“What are you talking about?”
The queen gripped Adriana’s hands.
“Magic runs in your veins, Adriana. Strong magic. But to use it, you will need
to make a choice.” She paused. “And you’re not ready to do that yet.”
A shiver of fear lanced down Adriana’s
back, even as confusion crowded her mind.
The queen said no more and turned on her
heel. Adriana could do nothing but follow her down the dark, winding corridors.
The booms increased until the whole palace quivered. The floor rolled like the
ocean, and Adriana staggered on unsteady legs. At the far western corner, Queen
Estelle pressed a tiny, diamond-shaped knob on the wall. A slab of stone
shifted to reveal a secret staircase.
“You must go.” She pushed Adriana toward
the opening. “The stairs will lead you to a tunnel you can take to Veltina
Forest. When you get out, run.”
Adriana drew up short, feeling cold.
“You’re not coming with me?”
“I need to protect your father. He
doesn’t know about his gift, and Solaris will do anything to claim it.”
“What gift?” Adriana’s voice was faint,
like it wasn’t her own. “No, please. Don’t go.”
The queen smiled tightly and stroked
Adriana’s face. “You come from strong bloodlines on both sides.” She leaned
forward to press a kiss to Adriana’s forehead. “I need to know you’ll be safe.”
“No!” Adriana fisted her mother’s robe
in her hands, but the queen pried her fingers loose.
“We will meet again. I promise.”
They both tensed at the nearby clatter
of metal.
“I love you. Now go!” Queen Estelle
shoved her, and Adriana fell backward into the opening. She yelled just as the
slab pressed closed, sealing her in absolute darkness.
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Meet the Author
K. Parr earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in 2017. She currently works as a youth services librarian in Rhode Island, where she writes romances celebrating love in all shapes and forms.Website | Twitter
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