The Queen of All that Lives, Teaser #2
Teaser Tuesday! Eek!
The Queen of All that Lives (The Fallen World #3) hits shelves May 15 and I wanted to share another snippet from the book! But before I share the teaser, I need to mention some things:
(1) The following teaser is from the first page of the manuscript, so if you don't want to know how Serenity starts the book off, don't read it.
(2) ARC reviewers--I'm still editing the novel, and it shouldn't be ready for at least another week and a half. So sorry about that--this one's much longer than my other novels, so I'm having to squeeze all my edits into my meager time frame! I'll email you all soon with updated info on when you'll receive your copy!
Okay, here it is:
The Queen of All that Lives, Teaser #2
We found her.
Finally.
There had always been rumors that the undying king’s queen lived. That she slept deep in the earth. That the king, mad with grief, put her there.
I step up to the golden sarcophagus, my men fanning out around it.
They weren’t rumors.
The subterranean temple is just as the blueprint said it would be—same size, same location. Only, my information never told me it would look like this. I’m a hardened man, and even I have goosebumps being in this place. The gold, the marble, the shrine set in the middle of the room surrounded by a moat of water. All to encase a supposedly living woman. And not just any woman; we’re retrieving a being this king and the rest of the world have all but worshiped for a hundred years.
“You’re recording all this?” I say to one of my men, my voice echoing. They’re the first words any one of us has breathed since entering the chamber.
He nods, the compact camera he holds focused on the coffin.
Styx would kill a hundred men to be here. Instead he’s forced to watch from behind a screen.
I holster my gun and reach out, my hand trailing over the golden ivy that covers the sarcophagus. I find the lip of the lid, and my fingers curl over the edge. I’m almost afraid of what we’ll find once we lift this sucker. I know what Serenity Lazuli looks like—everyone does—but the mythical woman has been gone for a century. For all I know, we’re about to come face-to-face with her mummified remains.
“On the count of three,” I say.
“One.” If the king finds us, we’re all dead men.
“Two.” If what lies inside this casket is everything we hoped for, the war might finally end.
“Three.”
My lips curl back as we push off the lid. Beneath it …
“Holy shit,” I breathe.
Inside rests a woman, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes closed. I take in her long golden hair, the smooth, pale skin, the deep scar that mars an otherwise beautiful face.
They definitely weren’t rumors, and these are definitely not Serenity Lazuli’s mummified remains. As we watch, her eyes move beneath closed lids.
The queen lives.
Finally.
There had always been rumors that the undying king’s queen lived. That she slept deep in the earth. That the king, mad with grief, put her there.
I step up to the golden sarcophagus, my men fanning out around it.
They weren’t rumors.
The subterranean temple is just as the blueprint said it would be—same size, same location. Only, my information never told me it would look like this. I’m a hardened man, and even I have goosebumps being in this place. The gold, the marble, the shrine set in the middle of the room surrounded by a moat of water. All to encase a supposedly living woman. And not just any woman; we’re retrieving a being this king and the rest of the world have all but worshiped for a hundred years.
“You’re recording all this?” I say to one of my men, my voice echoing. They’re the first words any one of us has breathed since entering the chamber.
He nods, the compact camera he holds focused on the coffin.
Styx would kill a hundred men to be here. Instead he’s forced to watch from behind a screen.
I holster my gun and reach out, my hand trailing over the golden ivy that covers the sarcophagus. I find the lip of the lid, and my fingers curl over the edge. I’m almost afraid of what we’ll find once we lift this sucker. I know what Serenity Lazuli looks like—everyone does—but the mythical woman has been gone for a century. For all I know, we’re about to come face-to-face with her mummified remains.
“On the count of three,” I say.
“One.” If the king finds us, we’re all dead men.
“Two.” If what lies inside this casket is everything we hoped for, the war might finally end.
“Three.”
My lips curl back as we push off the lid. Beneath it …
“Holy shit,” I breathe.
Inside rests a woman, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes closed. I take in her long golden hair, the smooth, pale skin, the deep scar that mars an otherwise beautiful face.
They definitely weren’t rumors, and these are definitely not Serenity Lazuli’s mummified remains. As we watch, her eyes move beneath closed lids.
The queen lives.
***
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Hugs and happy reading!
Laura
