Title:Dark Skies
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
What It's About: Killian has been stationed on the wall between Derin and Mudamora--his first assignment without supervision. A beautiful woman comes from the corrupted side, and she is one of the corrupted, a group of people that follow the Corrupter, the seventh god. She asks for safety, which Killian does not grant to her, and only after having gotten her shot, does he check on her. Turns out that she is alive, and her wounds start growing back together. She warns him that Queen Rufina is a direct vassal of the Corrupter, and she's coming with 10,000 men. He has his men run to get assistance and the armies barely arrive before the Derin strike. Killian recalls a warn from the woman he killed that they will come from behind, and tells his men not to open the doors for the other army that should be their allies, but is too late and his post is overrun. He sends men out to various corners of Mudamora to warn and then rides himself to the capital. En route, he encounters his father who has Killian healed, as he rode with all of his injuries and relays all the information to his father. HIs father tells him that he should have fought till his last breath considering he is God-marked by the God of War, and that he is extremely disappointed in him.
Per his father's orders, Killian heads to the city of Mudaire to receive his sentence/ judgement for the fall of the wall--one that has stood for thousands of years. HIs father, in the meantime, heads to the wall to clean up his mess. Killian gets summoned by the council, and finds it strange that the King's insignia is much larger than the rest of the council's, as they should all be equal. Throughout the council meeting, he notices that the Councillors seem to be afraid, but he cannot ascertain a reason for their fear. He finds out that his father died due to a heart failure and not even on the battle field. All of the council members argue that he should be spared--that just because he is god-marked does not mean that he can't make mistakes. They mention that maybe he was god-marked for a very particular reason--to protect someone--which did not come to pass, and the King agrees to put him on what Killian considers to be baby-sitting duty, of the King's own daughter. Killian accepts it.
Lydia rides with her father to the forum, worrying about him as he looks ill and the physicians had said he is terminal. They arrive to meet Cassius, and a man starts yelling at the two senators. One of their own guards tries to talk the man down, but ultimately the man is killed by the legionnaires. Her father sends her home and later on, they have a party where he tells her that he wants her to meld into the patrician girls, becoming one of them, so that he can get her prospects for marriage in order to take care of her once he dies because Vibius, who will inherit his estate, won't do it. He reveals that he had made some inquiries about giving her an inheritance, but Vibius found out and was very mad. At the party, Vibius makes fun of her when she tries to keep her father from drinking wine. Lydia then tries to spend some time with the girls, but they also taunt her. Her father collapses and is forced to go to bed, so she sits at the library learning and writing, when Teriana interrupts her. The two girls spend time together going outside, and even run into Vibius on the stairs.
Lydia confides in Teriana about the marriage and Teriana gives her hope--telling her about the Dark Shores. She even tells Lydia how to summon her if she ever needs her. The next day, her father comes to Lydia and tells her that she is to be betrothed to Lucius Cassius, who has agreed to let her continue to study and he already has children, so Lydia will not have to worry about bearing children. He gives her the betrothal bracelet, and once he is gone, Lydia runs down to the beach, throws the bracelet in the water and calls Magnius. He surprises her, freezing her in the water so that she cannot run, and she is surprised at how intelligent he is, as if he's seen thousands of years of history. Teriana comes and tells her that she cannot take Lydia on the ship because of her mom--reminding Lydia of her father's words that her mom does not like their friendship--and gives Lydia the book called the Treaties of the Seven. Lydia returns home and in a fit of anger, throws the book, where it lands in front of Vibes. He asks her if she's destroying what is his and reminds her that it will be his anyway. They exchange some words and he slaps her. When he leaves, her eyes fall to the book and the beautiful illustration it had turned to.
Lydia watches as the 37th legion comes in and makes their vote. She knows that something is off when she overhears Marcus and Lucius talk, with Lucius telling the commander to visit him. She decides to find out more, and sneaks onto Lucius's property, where she overhears them talking about the Dark Shores. She hears Lucius tell the commander that he has stopped the Maarin ships due to a paganism charge, making a note that he will be catching an influential ship. Lydia returns home and tries to warn Teriana, but first she tells her father, who says that it is illegal to do that. Except Vibius is there, and tells him that it is not, showing the book Teriana had given Lydia, which he had also shown to Lucius, who was able to translate it. She eventually finds her father ate the library, trying to read the laws and he tells her that the Quincense is coming to port--the navy had stopped it and have tortured all the sailors from all the other ships, but no one is saying anything. He tells her that Lucius wants to see her at the bath house, so Lydia goes, finding it empty and when she is in the bath, the Senator comes with Marcus and tells her that she may have been spared if not for her more recent actions. He tells her that Vibius is poisoning her father and that he's set everything up to look like she ran off. Then he leaves Lydia with Marcus to kill her, and when she tries to plead with him, Marcus apologizes to her, telling her that it's nice to see her again. It trickles in a memory but before anything else can happen, the water from the bath drain sucks her in. Marcus seems to tell her to hold on, but the wet hands and the force of the water carries her down the drain, where she finds herself in a cavern that has a Xenither crystal. She makes the decision to touch it, even though she has no clue where it leads, and Lydia realizes she can come back if she gives it a chance.
Killian watches over Malahi, who also reveals to him that she is god-marked, but that her father kept it a secret at her mother's insistence so that she would not be taken. She tells him that she wants his help in overthrowing her father, the King, and making her the Queen. If she becomes the Queen, he will also be the leader of the army against the Derin. Killian agrees, though he struggles to become friends with her ladies and friends. One in particular, Helene Torrington, grates on his nerves. He leaves through the cellars and takes food given by the staff in the kitchen to the sewers, where he meets Finn, one of the children orphaned by the war. He takes the food he brought to all the other children hiding there and stays the night, when the children are afraid because of the deimos, which can be described as flying horses with razor-sharp teeth. many people have escaped to Mudaire because of this fight with the Derin, and Killian cannot help but feel the scarcity and the situation is his fault. Looking out the next day, his skin prickles and he goes out to the city.
Lydia swims out and finds herself in an unknown place. She has lost her spectacles but very quickly realizes that she's on the Dark Shores. She walks over to a nearby city, and once the guards check her, they let her through. She goes to the city center and tries to get help only to get her foot stuck in a grate. A man comes to her aid, helps her get it unstuck and fight of the Deimos that is attacking them. She uses her thinking to get them in a house, but the Deimos follows them so they try to run to the gates but the guards won't let them in. The boy, not man, gives her instruction to another house, but Lydia decides to help him fight it. He introduces himself as Killian Calorian. He is badly hurt, so Lydia takes him to the house he gave her directions to. Inside is Bercola, Killian's friend and all of the day guard for Malahi--full of women that he had handpicked himself after firing all the men off of Malahi's guard.
Bercola sends someone to the temple for the healer, and they patch Killian up as much as they can. Suddenly, Lydia is left alone and wants to save him. An older woman appears, and they talk, once Lydia says that she wants to save Killian, the old woman tells her that she's a lot like her father, then marks her. She had told Lydia that her brother wanted Killian saved. Lydia does just that and freaks out when she looks like she has aged 50 years.
The next morning, she wakes up with Killian in her room, and tells him that she is not from here--telling him her story and how she was marked by Hegeria just that night to save his life because her brother wanted him alive. Killian steps out with Bercola and the giantess says that many people would lie to avoid going to the temple as mandated and they should turn her in. Lydia overhears this and jumps out the window. She looks up at Killian, who had come in and tells him that she's not a liar. Killian goes to the steps to follow her, but those words make him pause because of what happened at the wall. He decides to let Lydia go and instead back tracks her route into the city, coming upon the Xenither Crystal and finding her spectacles, which confirms her story.
That night, Lydia is on the town square, not able to sell her ring. A boy comes and tells a wild story about the events that transpired at night, but describes her as a crone. This makes Lydia mad, though she manages to find a pair of wealthier women around the square and sells her ring to them at a lower price. The boy tells her that she was swindled and she chases him off; she needs the money to buy passage on a ship though she knows that the ships have people testing the passenger to catch more healers as she saw it with her own eyes. That night, she stays at a crown-created shelter where she gets robbed and trampled.
Killian, in the meantime, is with Malahi when the Grand Master healer comes in asking about the healer he supposedly heard about. A little girl comes around giving out food, and both the Healer sees something, while Killian feels something, and it turns out that the girl is a Corrupted. He has to hurt Malahi to get to the girl, and then takes her head clean off. Turns out that the child was the daughter of the cook in the palace, and she had the rights to access the Princess. Killian asks the Healer how he knew that she was Corrupted, and he tells Killian that it's because they are too full of life. Killian uses that knowledge, realizing that he needs an unmarked healer to protect Malahi--it just so happens that he knows the girl for the job.
Lydia gets found by Finn, and he tells her about being a Royal Guard. When she seems interested, Killian shows up and tells her more. She agrees to the offer and they go to his family home, where he asks her about Celendor. She draws him the map of the Empire and tells him about Teriana and the Maarin. Killian cannot believe that Teriana is captured or that Lydia also knows her but Lydia hasn't liked to him yet. He's even more shocked by the size of the empire, and realizes that Lydia's quest is more important but she needs to get out to find a Maarin ship.
Lydia joins the guard, and one day, Killian overhears Helene talking about a ring she bought off a girl. He recognizes the ring and berates her for scamming the girl, before offering to buy it for 2,000 gold coins, and puts it back into his pocket.
Since Malahi wants to go see the shelters after the Grand Healer says something, they plan to go though Killian is against it. Lydia joins the ranks and he gives her gloves that he store from Malahi; he also steals a necklace and puts the ring on it to give it back to her.
Malahi is stubborn and despite Killian's please, they go into the city. She sees the shelters and is appalled that they smell so bad. She commands them to pay people to clean them and that they will find more space for everyone. As they leave, the crowd that has gathered around the carriage surges and kills all the horses for meat--Lydia realizing that fact too late--and others lunge for the gold on the carriage. Killian takes Malahi and rides with her for the hills, while Lydia tries to find Gwen, one of the guards that went down in the crowd. She sees a Corrupted and Killian hands Malahi over to Bercola before going back to Lydia, and finding her and Gwen. He returns with both of them and Malahi is furious that he left her, not allowing him to leave with Gwen to the temple, and forcing Lydia to go with her. She drops Gwen off and watches as the healers work before being shooed away.
Lydia begins to learn how to fight with Killian in his family home, and one night, she follows him, finding out that he is delivering food to the children in the sewers. She tries to head back and finds a sick boy who she heals. Killian heads out, only to find Finn coming after him. Fin tells him that his friend is down there and Killian finds Lydia in the tunnels. He takes her underneath the shelter and tells her to take life from them. They spend the night there, and Lydia tells him that she wants to heal them. They begin coming down at night with her wearing a mask and haling the children. Finn makes up a story that it is Hegeria herself.
At one point, Killian takes Malahi to a blight to see if she's able to make something out of it, as she has the mark for working the land. Malawi's horse goes down and they pull it out. Malahi is unable to do anything with the land, and later on, they find out that the horse has been infected with the blight. The Grand Master Healer tells them to put it down, so Killian snaps its neck.
Killian receives a letter from his mother with a code that tells him to watch his back. His brother, High Lord Hacken Calorian comes bearing aid, and sees the female guards practicing. He puts his hands on Lydia that shows he's trying to control things, which pisses off Killian. They spread out all the additional supplies, and Killian and Lydia find blight in the wall of the city, including the water, forcing everyone to evacuate to the other side. The other High Lords also arrive for Malahi's coming out ball. Hacken had tried to get the ring Killian purchased from him to be a betrothal gift to Malahi, but Killian tells him to go find it.
The council votes Malahi into power as Queen, and Hacken then asks to speak with her alone. Killian, sensing that something is off, tells him no. Hacken tells the Queen that she can't be a dog and when Killian does not back down, Hacken chooses Lydia to come with them. The three of them go behind doors and Hacken tells Malahi that Killian does not love her or care for her, and basically lays out her plan to her. But, he tells her that she will announce that they are betrothed that evening. He also tells her that his brother purchased an expensive ring, but did not give it to her. Instead, Hacken snaps Lydia's necklace and pulls out the ring.
When the doors reopen, Malahi and Hacken head down. Killian sees Lydia with the snapped necklace and the ring, but he charges after Malahi and Lydia goes after him to tell him what will happen. Killian does not stop to listen, and instead pursues the couple. Hacken announces that Malahi is the Queen, and Malahi is about to announce her betrothal to Hacken, when Killian gets on stage, at which point Hacken announces that Killian and Malahi are betrothed.
Suddenly, Ruffina shows up and a fight ensures. Malahi, Hacken and Malahi's guards escape through a hole in the wall that Killian had made and make their way to the tunnels, avoiding the Corrupted and those infected by the blight. They find themselves in a cavern with a Xenither stem, and agree that they will use it only when the Corrupted come. Malahi sends Lydia to the entrance with Bercola. Lydia manages to protect them, holding off a Corrupted and draining the life out of them for long enough that Killian comes and cuts its head off. She also saves Bercola by giving the life she stole to her. Malahi tells her that she's a liability and she wants her gone, so Lydia hangs back and leaves to the house per Killian's instructions. This is also after the group leaves the cavern with the Xenither Stem and Killian stops Lydia from touching it.
The council meets and Helene, who is now the High Lady after her father died due to the blight, does not wish to sign the document for Malahi to be the queen. High Lady Calorian arrives with ships consisting of an army of 100 Gamdeshian ships, only they were destroyed and only four were left seaworthy and then they got five more. She organizes the evacuation of Mudaire's people. Killian on the other hand takes a small group of people to a nearby ford to hold ooff the Derin army and give them time to evacuate.
Killian stops to see Lydia and gives her letters to ensure her passage to find Maarin ships. Once he leaves, she heads out only to be caught by the women in the Royal Guard, the one she had served with.
Lydia then wakes up in the Palace. Malahi tells her that she has suspected she was the one with whom Killian spent his time, and that she was the healer that saved him. She also tells her that she saw what she did in the cavern--taking a life. Malahi offers her options--to kill her father, be turned to the Temple or Jump. Lydia realizes that she is not getting on the ship and Malahi confirms that. Once she leaves, Lydia makes a choice--jump out of the window.
Killian is en route to the Ford and feels like Lydia is in danger, but chooses to press on.
Lydia survives the jump and finds herself saved by Bait. He wants to kill her for sharing their secrets by Magnius wrenches her memories from her and Bait realizes that she's not the traitor. He also tells her that Teriana is on this side of the world with Marcus. Lydia tells him to relay everything to Teriana and to figure out what Marcus's secret is--she realizes who he is once she hears his last name. She then climbs back up the tower and tells her two guards the truth.
Lydia rides to the camp by the Derin army to find King Serrick, and gives him the letter. She sees that he figures out a code and then burns it. Lydia spends the day hiding in his tent after he dismisses her, and only once he's asleep, she re-writes the letter, figures out the code and that Malahi lied. She touches the King, and his healer catches her, so she tells them what has happened--the truth that she was sent to kill him.
Killian manages to hold off the scouts and a small portion of the army with his 2,000 people. They are about to face a bigger contingent so he tells Fin, who snuck in, to hide in a tree an doges to fish when the Falorn contingent show up, and helps push them back. With enough High Lords present, they make Malahi the queen. Killian decides to take the message to her father on the other side, but Malahi begs him too tay; telling him that the blood will be on his hands. One of the Royal Guards comes in telling Malahi to tell the truth about what she did to Lydia or she will. Malahi tells him that she sent Lydia to kill her father to make it look like the corrupted because Lydia is corrupted. Killian realizes that Malahi also sent Bercola in case Lydia didn't do the job.
He gets through the Chaos and rides for the army, yelling. Then he notices Bercola and gets in front of Lydia when she shoots. Lydia sees him and rides for him, when he's hurt. She heals him not caring that she will be discovered and she hides when he goes to fight.
When she wakes up again, Killian is there and they talk--he offers her an escape to go find Teriana and when she tells him that Teriana is in Arinoquia, he tells her to go to Gamdesh, where she won't be forced to heal. Killian cannot admit that he loves her or that he doesn't love Malahi because he's too honorable, but says in another life, things could have been different.
He is summoned by the King and they talk. It turns out Malahi was stolen by Rufina and the king gives him the command of the army. Lydia waits for Killian, but suddenly Lord Hacken Calorian shows up with the Grand Master Healer, and tells him that she is the one who saved Killian's life. She agrees to go with the Healer in order to protect Killian, and when Killian shows up with his sword, she shakes her head, saying it is her choice, and then rides off, never once looking back.
My Thoughts: I'm not as much a fan of Lydia as I am of Teriana, and the story is not as interesting in my opinion as the one of Teriana and Marcus. That said, I do like Killian and I've slowly grown to enjoy their relationship as Lydia familiarizes herself with the world. I'm curious to see what will happen, and whether or not Killian will turn around for her, and let go of Malahi. I am also curious to see if the four ever meet up, and Teriana and Lydia make up. I guess that's to be seen in the next installment of the book.
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