In a world where time and currency is bound by draining your blood, 17 year old Jules Ember wants to sell her time to stop her Papa from selling what little remains of his time. After an evening of hunting and only managing to get one fish, Jules heads to the market to sell it and see the time lender. Amma who works at the market and is her best friend, tells her she is planning on going to Everless to work as a servant in preparation for the Queen’s arrival and wedding of Lord Roan Gerling and Lady Ina Gold. They will get paid a whole years worth of time for a months worth of work. Amma is so excited and tries to talk Jules into going with her, but no one knows she grew up there or that her Papa tells her she needs to stay far away. Having been banned from Everless ten years ago, for witnessing something she should haven’t seen, she has seen the Gerlings cruelty up close.
While waiting in line to see Duade, the time lender, he is collected from the store by two of Everless’ men. Still struggling to get away, he stops as a young man on a horse rounds the corner. Jules, thinking its Roan, believes things will stop and he will be released but when the young man removes his hood she realizes it’s Liam, which petrified her due to what she seen when she was younger. Her Papa always told her if she ever saw Liam again to run. So what does she do when she unfreezes but run back home to her Papa.
When she gets home, a rent collector is there talking with her father trying to collect rent. If you don’t have enough goods for them to take you give rent by blood. Not wanting to lose her Papa, after he goes to bed she sneaks out of the house to meet up with Amma to go to Everless. While waiting in line, the Gerling men went down the line choosing who would go to be a servant. Amma is not chosen due to having a scar on her face, she is told she’s too ugly. Her younger sister is chosen along with Jules, who promises she will look out for her.
Her papa told her to never let the queen see her. So as any teenager will do once you tell them not to do something, she tries everything in her limited power to get closer to the queen. While working as a servant, she runs into Roan, who remembers her from when they were little kids running around together. Roan offers her the chance to serve Lady Gold, which makes her happy as she is one step closer to the queen.
There are many secrets to be uncovered including why her Papa always warned her away from the queen. As time goes on, she starts to unravel some truths to her past and the stories she used to tell as a kid about the Fox and the Snake. Liam is the one who lets her in on her past but with everything that happened between them when they were younger she is hesitant to believe him.
Publication Date: January 2, 2018 Pages: 362 Book 1 of 2 Fantasy, Legends, Myths 2019 Lonestar List Age: 13+
The B Word 