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    Brambles
    Brambles
    Brambles
    Ebook50 pages44 minutes

    Brambles

    By Intisar Khanani

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    About this ebook

    In the kingdom of Adania, everyone knows what Princess Alyrra did to earn the court's contempt, her mother's disdain, and her brother's hatred.

    She betrayed her own.

    Yet, the truth hides another story, one of honor and honesty, of a princess gambling her own life for another's. It's a tale of courage and consequences, and a choice that can never be undone.

    A short story prequel to her multi-starred fantasy, Thorn, Intisar Khanani's "Brambles" gives Alyrra's account of what really happened all those years ago, and how a few critical days turned her life into a daily fight for survival.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIntisar Khanani
    Release dateDec 7, 2020
    ISBN9781948448000
    Brambles
    Author

    Intisar Khanani

    Intisar Khanani grew up a nomad and world traveler. Born in Wisconsin, she has lived in five different states as well as in Jeddah on the coast of the Red Sea. She first remembers seeing snow on a wintry street in Zurich, Switzerland, and vaguely recollects having breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo when she was five. She currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two young daughters. Intisar is also the author of Thorn. To find out what she is working on next and connect with her online, visit www.booksbyintisar.com.

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      Book preview

      Brambles - Intisar Khanani

      Chapter 1

      I’ve got a secret, Valka says, stepping up beside me. We stand at the edge of the roughly cobbled courtyard before the hall, mud sticking to our boots and our cloaks flapping in the chill spring breeze.

      The last of this morning’s departing carriages rolls toward the gates. Edlyna nods regally through the carriage window at us.

      Wouldn’t you like to know it? Valka presses.

      I glance around helplessly, as if someone might appear to rescue me. But of course, Valka has timed her approach perfectly: Mother has already departed with her coterie of vassals, and my brother hasn’t bothered to come at all. There are a few other nobles who have yet to leave for their lands for the summer, including Maralinde. But, along with the rest, she’s busy packing. Unlike Valka, unfortunately.

      If it’s a secret, you shouldn’t tell anyone, I say, shifting uneasily.

      You’re such a mouse, Alyrra. Valka gives a sweet, tinkling little laugh. The sound of it makes my skin prickle. I’ve heard that laugh enough times now to know that what she has to share will hardly be innocent.

      Come on, she says, sliding her arm through mine and tugging me forward. Valka may be only a year older than my own twelve, but she’s also taller than me, and prettier, with her red curls and green eyes. She carries herself with the sort of authority that leaves the rest of us bobbing in her wake. You would think she was the princess, not me.

      Not that I’m some sort of a grand lady. We’re a small kingdom ringed by forested mountains, mostly ignored by our much wealthier and larger neighbors who have no need for the scanty resources our land proffers. Still, our home is a worthy wood-framed structure, with a great receiving hall and two whole wings of rooms attached, as well as a tall wooden boundary wall to protect it. Though walls can’t protect from everything.

      "Do you remember how that little pest Edlyna fell off her horse last week?"

      I pull to a stop, staring up at Valka. You didn’t.

      Her green eyes glint back at me, all malicious glee. Alyrra, dear, don’t you remember how she made such a fuss about her new boots, right after I had my own commissioned? As if she was so much better than me? I couldn’t let that stand. You wouldn’t either, would you? Such arrogance! What better way to put her in her place than to cut a leather strap or two and let her fall right off her horse, pretty riding boots and all?

      She could have been injured, I say, a sick feeling in my stomach. I already know there’s no point in arguing; the deed is done and we both just watched Edlyna and her family depart. They won’t be back till fall, and all of this will be long past by then.

      Oh, hardly! That hostler caught her easily. What’s the use of a hostler to help you mount if they aren’t there to catch you, anyway?

      Yes, but it was mortifying for her! I can still remember the girl’s face, red with humiliation as she snatched herself free of the hostler.

      I know, Valka says, beaming. "Utterly mortifying, and, really, one of the most satisfying outcomes

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