Conquer the Kingdom


 
 
 
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Epigraphs
 Contents
 Map 1
 Map 2
 Map 3
 Part One: The Bounty Hunter
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 
 
 Part Two: The Prince of Lightning
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 
 
 Part Three: The Gargoyle Queen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Chapter Twenty-One
 Chapter Twenty-Two
 Chapter Twenty-Three
 Chapter Twenty-Four
 Chapter Twenty-Five
 Chapter Twenty-Six
 Chapter Twenty-Seven
 Chapter Twenty-Eight
 Chapter Twenty-Nine
 Chapter Thirty
 Chapter Thirty-One
 
 
 Acknowledgments
 About the Author
 By Jennifer Estep
 Copyright
 About the Publisher
 
 
 
 
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 Dedication
 
 
 To my mom—for your love, your patience, and everything else that you’ve given to me over the years.
 
 
 
 To all the readers who wanted more stories set in my Crown of Shards world—this one is for you.
 
 
 
 And to my teenage self, who devoured every single epic fantasy book that she could get her hands on—for writing your very
 own epic fantasy books.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Epigraphs
 
 
 To conquer a kingdom, you must first crush its heart.
 —Maximus Morricone, former king of Morta
 Andvari shall never fall, so long as one gargoyle lives.
 —Armina Ripley, first queen of Andvari
 
 
 
 
 
 Map 1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Map 2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Map 3
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Part OneThe Bounty Hunter
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter One
 
 I’ve played a lot of parts in my life.
 
 My most frequent and famous role is that of Gemma Armina Merilde Ripley, crown princess of Andvari, also snidely known as
 Glitzma. I suppose Princess Gemma is who I am, for better or worse.
 
 
 But it’s not all that I am.
 
 
 Princess Gemma is just one part of my persona, a carefully crafted role that enables me to travel throughout Andvari and into
 the kingdoms beyond, spying on those who would harm my people, gathering intelligence on their schemes, and thwarting their
 plots both great and small.
 
 
 Being a spy is much more useful and far more satisfying than being a princess. In recent weeks, I had masqueraded as everything
 from a miner to a jewelry maker to a gladiator. Right now I was playing a new part, one that just might be my most important
 role yet.
 
 
 Bounty hunter.
 
 I crouched down, eased forward, and peered around the side of a large wooden crate. Similar crates were stacked all along the riverfront, while thick ropes were curled up like coral vipers on the grimy flagstones. Small rowboats rested on the muddy shore in the distance, and the watery stench of fish filled the November air. Everything looked perfectly normal, and my gaze moved over to a ship tied to a dock that stretched out into the Summanus River. 
 
 The vessel was the biggest one along the riverfront, with masts that towered high in the air. The ship’s hull might have been
 a bright cobalt at one time, although the elements had weathered