Page 6 of Beasts of Briar (Stolen Crowns #5)

Chapter Five

YEAR 200, ERA OF THE GODS

I t has been one month since my father died. I’ve taken over the farm, but without his help—his leadership—I’m having a hard time keeping up. Crops need to be watered, tended to, animals need to be fed. The other day, one of our goats died giving birth because I couldn’t get there in time. Then the fowl died. Two goats we depended on for milk and meat. My mother just lays on her straw mattress all day, staring at the walls. I can barely get her to eat, let alone help with anything around the farm. The coconuts and bananas need picking. The avocado seeds need to be planted.

Yet that’s the least of my concerns. The looters are getting worse. People coming from all over to steal from our lucrative land here at the edge of the island.

A few days ago, a group of men tried to take our house. I used my magic to protect us, summoning the trees’ shadows to grab the men and stop them. But it didn’t go my way. I ended up killing the men. It was the first time I’d taken a life, but I had no choice. It was either them or us. This world is getting more dangerous, and the gods are doing nothing to stop it. Likely because they’re constantly involved in their own conflicts. Warring with each other, tricking each other, competing against each other—and mortals are the casualties. Sometimes the pawns.

Something has to be done, but I am not the man to do it. I just want to spend my days farming, find a wife, have children, live a good life. That’s something I’m starting to doubt is possible in this world.

My only solace is in this journal, in these words I write. My friends are all gone, driven away by war and famine. I’m holding onto our home, and my dreams, by a thread. I have one last hope. To travel to the temple of the god of shadows. My patron god here on the island of Faramore. The god of shadows is the worst of the gods. The deadliest. But he is also my only option since I live in his jurisdiction. Going to the other gods could offend him and get me killed.

I want to ask for protection for myself, my mother, and my farm. If he is willing to grant it, my dreams may yet have a chance. If not, then I’ll probably be dead anyway.