Today, I'm excited to take part in the blog tour for AMBER & DUSK by Lyra Selene, a brand-new fantasy that I'm really excited to read!
The book isn't out for a couple of more weeks until November 27th, but I have an excerpt to get you excited today!
Also, how pretty is this cover? It caught my eye immediately!
Curious to learn more?
Here's an excerpt to whet your appetite.
Check out the book's summary and enter to win a copy below!
AMBER & DUSK
The sun had not set on the Amber Empire for a thousand
tides. But that didn’t mean my world knew nothing of
darkness.
Or violence.
The Skyclad platoon bore down on the convoy beneath a sky
spackled with blood and charcoal. Bright metal armor glinted
red in the twilight. Hoofbeats on packed earth echoed the drum
of my heart against my ribs. I reached for the amulet at my neck,
letting the familiarity of its skin-warmed planes calm my twist-
ing nerves.
I wasn’t the only one who was afraid. Voices of laborers and
free travelers rose in panic as the soldats approached. Women
drew tight the curtains of their wagons. Men shouted for chil-
dren scurrying among the mess of tents and cook fires and
freight drays. Livestock brayed and squawked.
Only Madame Rina was still. She stood in front of the biggest
transport with feet planted wide and dark braids dancing in the
hot breeze. She didn’t flinch as the platoon drew close enough to
see the wild eyes of the mounts and the silvery dristic armor
protecting the bodies of the soldats.
“Luca!” I called, although I couldn’t drag my eyes away from
the approaching platoon. “Luca, where are you?”
“Here, Sylvie.” The gentle touch on my shoulder reassured
me, but when I turned toward my friend, his normally laughing
face was tense and serious. His hazel eyes darted, barely registering
his mother’s stalwart figure at the front of the camp.
“Where’s Vesh? Have you seen my brother?”
“He was playing with the other children, last time I saw,” I
murmured. Vesh was younger than Luca by nearly twelve tides,
and rarely strayed far from his older brother’s protective eye.
“Luca, I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Fine,” Luca agreed. The certainty of the word didn’t reach
his eyes. “Listen, you stay here. Don’t move. Let Maman do the
talking. I’m going to find my brother.”
“Luca, wait—”
But he was already gone, swallowed up by the permanent
twilight. I breathed deeply through my nose and tried to calm
the thrumming of my heart. The Sisters of the Scion—the reli-
gious sect who raised me—swore my unsanctioned journey to
the Amber City would be cursed with misfortune. But I never
imagined that menace might come from the Amber Empire’s
own troops. The Skyclad—the Amber Empress’s elite force—
were said to be born with a weapon in each hand. Unflinchingly
trained. Merciless. Their famed armor was bright and pale as
the azure heavens above the distant Meridian Desert.
The platoon thundered to a halt at the front of the camp. The
captain dismounted in a flurry of dristic and blue, tossing her
reins to a lieutenant and dragging off her helmet. She was a tall
woman near Madame Rina’s age; grey threads sparked in the
brown hair knotted at the nape of her neck. Laugh lines etched
her face, but her eyes were forged of hard metal.
“You.” The captain glared down her nose at Rina. “This is
your convoy?”
“Aye.” Rina’s voice rang with authority. “Chartered and
bonded, these last seven tides.”
“Your papers.”
Madame Rina thrust a sheaf of parchment into the captain’s
gloved hand. I hadn’t seen the documents since Ió²€™d first joined
the convoy, but I remembered what they looked like, inked and
beribboned.
Madame Rina’s bond permits and Charter Writ.
“Everything is in order, I assure you,” said Rina. “What
quarrel could you possibly have with me or this convoy?”
“No quarrel,” the captain grunted, not looking up from her
rough perusal of the documents. “We search every convoy with
free travelers in this quadrant.”
“Since when? My charter grants both bonded laborers and
free travelers right of passage along this route.”
The captain fixed Madame Rina with a stare. She raised a
slow hand toward one of her soldats, and bent a finger.
The soldat broke formation. Shifting patterns of light and
shadow danced across the pale metal of his armor. One swift
kick sent an iron cook pot lurching off its stand. Boiling water
poured across livid embers. Steam billowed to the sky, wafting
the stench of seared meat and wet wood across the camp.
Somewhere, a child wailed.
I clutched harder at my pendant, biting down my fury.
Anything I said would only make this worse. Until I got to the
Amber City, my words meant nothing.
Worse than nothing, since I was technically a refugee. The
Midnight Dominion—the darkness beyond the reach of our
static sun—had been creeping into the Dusklands for tides, send-
ing shadows to swallow light and drive frightened Dusklanders
from their homes into the Amber Empire.
But I wasn’t running from the darkness at the edge of nowhere—
I was running toward the light at the heart of the
empire. I was going to Coeur d’Or, the imperial palais in
the Amber City.
But that wouldn’t matter to these Skyclad soldats.
“My orders are not your concern, Dusker,” the captain said.
“But by all means, continue to question them.”
Rina’s eyes narrowed to slits, but her expression relented.
“Better. Now, tell me—where did this convoy originate?”
“Piana. A village near the edge of the Dusklands.”
“Its destination?”
“The Amber City.”
“Purpose?”
“It’s an ore convoy. Our freight is ambric—a little dristic and
kembric too, for trading.”
“And who are these folk?”
“My bonded labor, mostly. The rest are free travelers—
merchants and herdsman who have paid for our security and
company along their passage west.”
“Any Dominion refugees?”
Rina hesitated for barely a second before shaking her head no.
But the captain saw her hesitation. Everyone did.
The captain swept back her pale cloak and planted her palm
on the hilt of her sword.
“Who?”
For one awful moment, I didn’t know what Rina would say.
The metal clasp of my amulet dug into my palm, but I didn’t take
my hand away.
Finally, Rina clenched her jaw and shook her head again. “No
refugees here, Captain.”
A cold smile crept across the captain’s face. “We can do it that
way too.”
The captain raised a gloved fist. Her soldats snapped to
attention.
“There are refugees here,” she barked. “Find them. Anyone
who stands in your way is in defiance of Imperial Law.”
Swords rang from scabbards. Helmets snapped down. Booted
feet stamped hard-packed earth. The platoon of armored soldats
bore down upon the camp.
Panic sprinted ahead of the Skyclad onslaught. Parents rushed
for their children. Free travelers reached for meat knives and
shovels: anything that could be used to defend themselves. But
the soldats were more interested in terror than violence. Laborers
were shoved aside to sprawl in the dust. The canvas sides of ore
transports tore beneath steel, scattering glowing nuggets. A
keening scream splintered the air, then ceased abruptly.
I dived for Rina, who was standing frozen amid the chaos. I
grasped her shoulders and yanked her gaze away from the scenes
of cruelty and destruction.
“Madame Rina!” I hissed at her. “You have to do something!”
But her gaze was blank and terrible.
“Vesh?” she asked. “And Luca? Are my boys safe?”
“I don’t know!” I fought the urge to slap the older woman.
“But they’re not the only ones who could get hurt if we don’t
stop this!”
“How?” she asked, and turned away, as though she knew her
question had no answer.
I gritted my teeth so hard I thought my jaw might crack. I
pushed away from Rina, casting my gaze toward the Skyclad
captain. She stood a few strides away with her back to me, arms
loosely clasped behind her cloak. Calm. Contained.
I couldn’t contain the rage boiling up inside me.
“You!” I shoved all my anger into the word and threw it at the
captain, closing the distance between us. “Stop this! Stop it now!”
“I will stop,” said the captain. “When someone tells me which
of these groveling mongrels was puked up by the Midnight
Dominion.”
“You’re sick.” My words rang harsh. “There are no refugees
here! Why would you do this to innocent people?”
“I’m doing my duty,” she said, turning at last to look at me.
“No one is truly innocent. And innocence certainly doesn’t pay a
soldat’s commission.”
Fury painted fire along my bones.
The Sisters always swore the Scion would punish me for my
sins: my anger, my ambition, my tenacious dreams. But I always
thought those features made me stronger.
My secret unfurled gauzy wings inside me.
I caught my lip between my teeth and chewed. Standing up to
a Skyclad captain was dangerous. But so was running away from
the Sisters, choosing uncertainty over mediocrity and power over
poverty. So was traveling halfway across an empire with barely
more to live on than crusts of bread and Luca’s kind smiles.
There were many kinds of danger. And there were worse
things than facing it.
I knew what I had to do.
I squeezed my eyes shut and reached for a single glowing
memory: the moment that changed my life.
A dingy, frigid room. Dull, livid light illuminating a sheaf
of parchment lined in handwriting so elegant I barely recognized the language. And the Imperial Insignia, ornate and
unmistakable—a sunburst bigger than my hand, stamped in
amber wax and gilded with kembric. I concentrated on the mem-
ory until I could see nothing but the seal, glowering in the
bruised dusk.
I forced my eyes open and swallowed down the scorching
tang of fear. I stepped toward the Skyclad officer.
“Stay your men, Captain,” I snapped, threading my voice with
as much command as I could muster. “Your business here is done.”
The woman’s brows slashed together. Dread kicked my ribs
with dristic-toed boots.
“Do you wish to die, girl?” A smile wove the lines of her face
into a savage tapestry. “They say it is a great honor to die on a
Skyclad’s sword.”
“And yet, an honor that is beneath me,” I snarled, drawing
myself up to my full height. I held out an imperious hand, and
made the captain see something that wasn’t there.
A sheaf of parchment appeared in my hand. An illusion, fash-
ioned from memory and forged in the kaleidoscope crush of my
heart. The ink glimmered blood-red and the paper rustled in the
breeze, densely woven and fine. And the Imperial Insignia of
the Amber Empire glared from the top page, heavy and solid and
glittering like a tiny sun.
I held my breath, ignoring the low humming in my ears and
the strength sapping from my limbs.
The Skyclad captain took one look at the seal. Her face
drained of color. She swept into a bow so low the hem of her sil-
very cloak stirred up puffs of dust.
“My deepest apologies,” she gasped. “I had no idea someone
of your station was traveling with this ore convoy. Forgive me!”
She saluted briskly, spun on her heel, and strode forward into
the melee.
“Stand down!” she shouted. “Our authority here has been
revoked! Return to your mounts at once!”
The order rippled outward through the camp. One by one,
soldats lowered their weapons. Free travelers fell back with gasps
and cries as the armored men and women turned away to their
horses with blank, impassive faces.
I sucked in a deep breath of smoke-smudged air and glanced
down at the document in my hand. The edges of my vision
curled like flame-eaten parchment as the illusion evaporated,
bleeding into wisps of color and form. Within seconds, nothing
remained of the Imperial Insignia. Panic burst hot in my veins,
but the Skyclad officer kept her gaze diffident and her back
angled toward me. She hadn’t seen the official seal of the empire
melt away into nothing.
I shoved my hands into my pockets, praying to the Scion I’d
done enough.
The captain swept me a final salute before mounting her
horse. Within moments, the Skyclad platoon was gone, shards of
bright metal choked beneath a billow of yellow dust.
Dizziness clutched at me. I forced myself to turn and face
the camp.
The damage was bad. Broken glass glittered along the edges
of gaping transport windows, mixing with shattered chunks of
ambric ore. Tents were nothing more than shredded wisps
of canvas. Livestock lay slaughtered and broken, dank blood
dampening parched earth. The guttering tongues of scattered
cook fires licked at the debris of wagons torn to pieces.
I was so transfixed by the wreckage that it took me a moment to register the heavy press of a hundred eyes. I lifted my gaze, dreading what I knew I would see.
Laborers and free travelers were scattered across the camp-
site, crouched between overturned transports and cowering
in the comfort of one another’s arms. And everyone—man,
woman, and child—was staring at me. Suspicion gave their eyes
sharp edges.
What had they glimpsed, amid the chaos, to make them look
at me like that? Had they seen a nameless Dusklander conjure an
Imperial Insignia from thin air? Or was it enough that they had
watched a penniless orphan singlehandedly banish a platoon of
armed Skyclad soldats into the dusk, and walk away unscathed?
Humiliation tinged with old resentment caught in my throat
and choked me. Whatever its cause, their palpable suspicion felt
all too familiar—I’d spent my life glimpsing it in the grimaces of
superstitious Sisters and the sidelong glances of dirt-smudged
villagers. Hearing it in the voices of cruel children who couldn’t
understand where I fit into their narrow worlds.
Freak. Witch. Monster.
A hand fell on my shoulder. I spun, my heart vaulting.
Madame Rina.
“Come, child,” she murmured. Her face was unreadable
in the dusk. “You’ve done nothing wrong. We’ll find a way to
fix this.”
I gave a slow nod. But as Rina turned to pick her way through
the ruins of her precious convoy, I didn’t have the heart to tell
her that what the captain had said was true: No one was truly an
innocent.
Especially me.
And nobody could fix that.
Copyright © 2018 by Lyra Selene
~*~
O F F I C I A L I N F O:
Title: AMBER & DUSK
Author: Lyra Selene
Release Date: November 27, 2018
Publisher: Scholastic Press
PURCHASE LINKS:
SUMMARY:
Sylvie has always known she deserves more. Out in the permanent twilight of the Dusklands, her guardians called her power to create illusions a curse. But Sylvie knows it gives her a place in Coeur d'Or, the palais of the Amber Empress and her highborn legacies.
So Sylvie sets off toward the Amber City, a glittering jewel under a sun that never sets, to take what is hers.
But her hope for a better life is quickly dimmed. The empress invites her in only as part of a wicked wager among her powerful courtiers. Sylvie must assume a new name, Mirage, and begin to navigate secretive social circles and deadly games of intrigue in order to claim her spot. Soon it becomes apparent that nothing is as it appears and no one, including her cruel yet captivating sponsor, Sunder, will answer her questions. As Mirage strives to assume what should be her rightful place, she'll have to consider whether it is worth the price she must pay.
So Sylvie sets off toward the Amber City, a glittering jewel under a sun that never sets, to take what is hers.
But her hope for a better life is quickly dimmed. The empress invites her in only as part of a wicked wager among her powerful courtiers. Sylvie must assume a new name, Mirage, and begin to navigate secretive social circles and deadly games of intrigue in order to claim her spot. Soon it becomes apparent that nothing is as it appears and no one, including her cruel yet captivating sponsor, Sunder, will answer her questions. As Mirage strives to assume what should be her rightful place, she'll have to consider whether it is worth the price she must pay.
~*~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
She lives in New England with her husband, in an antique farmhouse that’s probably not haunted. AMBER & DUSK is her debut novel.
Visit her at:
~*~
GIVEAWAY
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