The Veiling of the Moon Kingdom

THE VEILING OF THE MOON KINGDOM THE STARS FORGOTTEN BOOK ONE CAITLIN ZURA CONTENTS Pronunciation Guide Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 79. Before About the Author Acknowledgments Content Warning: While these are not the focus of the book, please be aware that it contains scenes of: Child abuse, partner violence, parental abuse, sexual assault, mention of rape, mature language/content, PTSD, mental health struggles, and mention of homophobia. Read with care. Copyright © 2023 by Caitlin Zura All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Cover art by EllaRosesArt Map art by Michelle Loring Edited by Ceara Nobles To the readers who keep their hearts in a cage— don't throw away the key. Pronunciation Guide: People: Elodae Kenton - (el-uh-day) (ken-ton) Irelia Hailwyn - (ur-eh-lee-uh) (hale-win) Vanor Hailwyn - (van-or) (hale-win) Alden Einar - (all-den) (ay-nar) Charon Einar - (care-on) (ay-nar) Lillianna Einar - (lil-ee-ah-nuh) (ay-nar) Finn Draethen - (fynn) (dray-thin) Warren Torvus - (war-in) (tor-vus) Astrid Marlow - (ass-trid) (mar-low) Vincent Marlow - (vin-cent) (mar-low) Orion - (oh-ry-in) Fornax Branton - (four-nax) (bran-ton) Hadeon - (hay-dee-in) Atlas - (at-liss) Places: Dolannish - (dole-un-nish) Asiva - (uh-sea-vuh) Callumere - (kal-uh-mear) Eldonia - (el-doe-nyuh) Lunala - (loon-all-uh) Cronanth - (crow-nan-th) Samarok - (suh-mar-rock) The Oreithyians - (or–ee-thee-in) Tyrian Peaks - (tier-ee-in) Amphian Straight - (am-phee-in) Vastolis - (vah-stole-iss) Felidell - (fell-ih-del) Calith - (kal-ith) Selenhold - (suh-len-hold) Mauwen - (maw-when) Thirteen years—that was as far back as Elodae Kenton’s memory went. Sitting on the balcony that adjoined her bedroom, she sipped from a cup of mint and honey tea. She pondered, as she usually did, about the dream that had woken her in a sweat-soaked panic. The dream was the same as always. The only memory she had of a life lived long ago. Screaming winds fought against roaring waves as they crashed relentlessly into the ship’s hull. Her mother and father had gone up on deck to assist the crew. She clung to her bedpost as the ship tilted this way and that. Fighting sounded above. Metal against metal. A man appeared with her mother. Excruciating pain shot through her mind. Black. A man’s voice yelled for her. Black. Horrifying sounds of wood exploding as the sea finally broke through the side of the ship. Black. Elodae wasn’t even sure if the dream—nightmare, more like—was a memory or just a figment of her imagination. Her “mother” and “father” were faceless figures in her mind. She told herself they were her parents to comfort some part deep within her. Had they truly been on that ship? Did they die at sea that night, or had they passed long before? Had they even passed at all? There were too many holes in her memory to know truth from fiction. She gritted her teeth, frustrated that she couldn’t remember anything about her life before Samarok. It was the same after every dream. She tried and tried and tried to remember, but her mind would give nothing but the barest glimpse. Elodae fidgeted with her necklace, turning the two center circles so they were perpendicular to the outer one. She glanced down at the golden pendant, where the bite of the eternally cold metal rested above her heart. The thumbnail size pendant brought her a sense of comfort. Running a thumb over the center-most circle, over the eight-pointed star that rested atop a crescent moon, she squinted at the engravings that wrapped around the outside. Similar ones were etched in all three circles. No one knew what language they were written in, and she had never once taken it off for someone to examine it. A memory surfaced—her screaming and panicking when the castle healers had tried to remove it after she washed up on the shore of Cronanth. She remembered only three things from that day thirteen years ago. First, her name was Elodae. No last name that she could remember. Just Elodae. They had given her the name Kenton during the blur of days that followed her abrupt arrival in Samarok’s court. The name had belonged to the late queen's sister after she had married a duke from western Samarok. Second, she’d been ten years old. She still remembered the terror she’d felt as she regained consciousness in the arms of a gentle woman who brought her to a towering castle along the shore. Third, she did not hail from the kingdom in which she’d landed. Sighing, Elodae looked skyward to a constellation she knew would be looking down at her; a man holding a shield in his right arm and a raised sword in the other. The sword was outstretched as if pointing to his next opponent. The tip of the sword always faced eastward. The Warrior. Or