Free The Shattered Mountain by Rae Carson Page B

coming.”
    Mara feels the girl’s eyes on her back as she heads into the half cavern. Somehow,
     in this moment, Mara knows that nothing about her will go unnoticed ever again.

17

    S HE has barely gone from sunshine to shadow when Teena thrusts a bowl of stew at her.
     Mara is stunned for a moment as she breathes in the scent of venison. It’s so thick,
     with huge chunks of meat. Even carrots. And suddenly Mara’s lips are on the side of
     the bowl and warm, generous stuff is sliding down her throat, filling her stomach.
     It leaks past her mouth, smears her cheeks and chin, but she doesn’t care.
    “That’s what I did!” Teena says, laughing. “But then my belly hurt.”
    Mara forces herself to stop and take a breath. Stew drips from her chin to the ground.
     She looks around to find the other children slurping with equal abandon, especially
     tiny Marlín, who sits cuddling her bowl, her eyes closed in perfect ecstasy. For the
     first time in days, Mara smiles.
    “They’ve already assigned huts to us so we can rest,” Teena says brightly. “You get
     to share with me. They even gave us some blankets. Do you want me to take you there?”
    A hut. Rest. Blankets. Words that feel like home.
    Mara takes another, less hurried sip of stew. Across the cavern, the beautiful girl
     Cosmé is tending to Hando’s arm, preparing it for amputation. Belén, the boy she briefly
     loved before she met Julio, interviews the children, trying to find matches with friends
     or relatives who might already be in their camp. Mara was relieved when he left the
     village last year, but she’s surprised at how glad she is to see him now.
    Even the princess is busy, carrying buckets of water from the pool to the infirmary
     area.
    These rebels are people of accord. Of purpose.
    Mara throws back her shoulders, as if by doing so she can shake off their long journey,
     her father’s abuse, Julio’s death. It’s not enough. The memories will cling stubbornly,
     maybe forever, but she finds that she can stand under their weight after all.
    Teena peers at her questioningly, for she has been silent too long.
    She takes a deep, cleansing breath. Her hope can’t come from Julio anymore. She must
     nurture it inside herself, and she must fill it with purpose. Mara says, “Thank you,
     Teena, but not just yet. Do you know where the kitchen area is? I want to get to work
     right away.”

Excerpt from The Crown of Embers
    Read on for a preview of Elisa’s and Mara’s
    continued adventures,
    in book two of Rae Carson’s epic trilogy!



1

    M Y entourage of guards struggles to keep pace as I fly down the corridors of my palace.
     Servants in starched frocks and shined shoes line the way, bowing like dominoes as
     I pass. From far away comes a low thrum, filtering even through walls of stone and
     mortar, steady as falling water, hollow as distant thunder. It’s the crowd outside,
     chanting my name.
    I barrel around a corner and collide with a gleaming breastplate. Firm hands grasp
     my shoulders, saving me from tumbling backward. My crown is not so lucky. The monstrous
     thing clatters to the ground, yanking strands of hair painfully with it.
    He releases my shoulders and rubs at red spot on his neck. “That crown of yours is
     a mighty weapon,” says Lord-Commander Hector of the Royal Guard.
    “Sorry,” I say, blinking up at him. He and the other guards shaved their mustaches
     to mark our recent victory, and I’ve yet to adjust to this new, younger-looking Hector.
    Ximena, my gray-haired nurse, bends to retrieve the crown and brushes it off. It’s
     thick with gold and inlaid with a single cabochon ruby. No dainty queen’s diadem for
     me. By tradition, I wear the crown of a fully empowered monarch.
    “I expected you an hour ago,” he says as I take his offered arm. We travel the corridor
     at a bruising pace.
    “General Luz-Manuel kept me. He wanted to change the parade route again.”
    He stops cold, and I nearly trip.