Of Chaos and Cadence: A Kasmian Chronicles Standalone (The Kasmian Chronicles)

Copyright Of Chaos and Cadence: The Kasmian Chronicles by Constance Lopez Copyright © 2023 Constance Lopez www.constancelopez.com All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without prior written permission of the publisher. For permissions contact: [email protected] This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, locations, events and incidents (in either a contemporary and/or historical setting) are products of the author's imagination and are being used in an imaginative manner as a part of this work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, settings, or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental. Cover and title art by Milan Manko of MIBLartEditing by Laura Josephsen Print ISBN: 979-8-3935646-3-6 E-book ASIN: B0B7CMCBWY Dedication To Belle. Without you, no one would be reading this book for a while yet. Thank you for everything you've done to help bring it to life. Contents 1. Isa 2. Liam 3. Isa 4. Liam 5. Isa 6. Liam 7. Liam 8. Isa 9. Liam 10. Liam 11. Liam 12. Isa 13. Isa 14. Liam 15. Isa 16. Isa 17. Liam 18. Isa 19. Liam 20. Isa 21. Liam 22. Liam 23. Isa 24. Isa 25. Isa 26. Liam 27. Isa 28. Isa 29. Liam 30. Isa 31. Liam 32. Liam 33. Isa 34. Liam 35. Isa 36. Liam 37. Liam 38. Liam 39. Isa 40. Liam 41. Liam 42. Isa 43. Isa 44. Isa 45. Liam 46. Isa 47. Liam 48. Isa 49. Liam 50. Isa 51. Liam 52. Isa 53. Liam 54. Isa 55. Isa Epilogue Afterword Acknowledgments About the Author Chapter 1 IsaThis was for Tarron. Isa repeated the words in her head. They were the only thing that kept her feet moving forward down the moss-lined path. A hundred paces ahead, a pair of elven guards stood at attention outside the single entry of Malya’s only prison. The entrance, nothing more than a wall of vines, wove between two black walnut trees. Only the posted guards showed that this section of the wall was the entrance; the same vine pattern curved up and out on either side of those walnut trees to the next set of trees, and the next, in one dome larger than most elven buildings. There was no break in the vines on the walls, though from prior adventures climbing some of Malya’s tallest trees, Isa remembered the smooth circular windows that dotted the top of the dome.From her current vantage on the ground, the dome filled everything. The rest of Malya, the capital of Loril, was lost beyond it, buried amongst the roots and branches of the forest. Here there was only the prison, filling her view and her chest with tightness, a sense of smothering.She was here for Tarron. She kept her pace even, but one hand snaked up to twist the tips of a strand of hair.If the guards had noticed Isa, they gave no indication. With their helms on, they were as faceless as the wood and vines they protected. She could only see silvery white hair flowing down the back of one of the guards and shifting in the breeze.She forced herself to keep moving. It wasn’t wrong of her to visit her father. There was no harm in a conversation. Yes, he was imprisoned and stripped of his title, but her uncle, King Kivaran, had not placed any blame at her feet. She was innocent. And she needed to see her father—for her little brother. With Tarron’s seventh birthday a fortnight away, Isa had little time to finish the preparations for his ashriken ceremony. And she couldn’t make the kindred stone Tarron needed. Only Magriel could.And yet, here she waited, her hands shaking at the thought of requesting a few minutes with the traitor. It was sure to draw attention. Her place in Malya—in Loril—was already so unsteady as it was, with being dismissed from active guard duty last year because of her unstable human magic and then her father trying to break away and create his own nation behind Kivaran’s back.She’d lost her mother, now her father. She couldn’t lose her home too.She couldn’t lose Tarron.And today, Tarron needed her to walk into that prison, no matter what rumors might be raised and whispered under the boughs of Malya.Thus fortified, Isa approached the prison dome’s entrance. The guards watched her as she neared, eyes narrowing beneath their helms.The opinion of two random guards didn’t matter.Isa stopped before them. “I wish to speak with Lord Dalmyar.”The left-hand guard raked his eyes over her. “No one sees the traitor Dalmyar, Glowworm.” She could hear the smirk in his voice.Too late, recognition dumped over Isa at the guard’s words like a bucket of snowmelt. The right-hand guard was a stranger to her, but she would never forget that voice—that cruel name—even if his features were covered by a helm.“Bobathian.” The name whooshed from her as if he’d punched her in the gut.“Half-human.” It was a condemnation, not a greeting. Isa pursed her lips.She’d fancied herself in love with Bobathian once. He was tall, handsome—even for an elf—with spring green eyes and moonsilver hair. He could shoot a bow farther and with more accuracy than anyone but Isa’s cousin Vendar.And when he’d learned of her affections, realized that was why her skin always traitorously glowed from her human magic with a suffused pink light when she was near him, he’d mocked her, insulted her human blood, and humiliated her in front of their whole patrol squad.He represented everything in Loril that hated Isa.She pursed her lips. “King Kivaran has granted me permission.”“If that were true, you wouldn’t have skulked here like a runty fox. Leave, Glowworm.”Isa dug her hand into her tunic’s pocket before she could wrap it around Bobathian’s neck. “I have proof.”She pulled out the starstone