#Cry of fear stranger skin#
#Cry of fear stranger series#
#Cry of fear stranger windows#

Sami, sweaty, blood-splattered, but triumphant, holding aloft a baby that was more ashen than alive with the same hair as me-as dark as damp earth-plastered to her skull, her skin wrinkled and wet. But, through whatever skill she possessed, and by the blessing of the Great God, when the moon reached the pinnacle of its arc, spilling milky light over the citadel, Sami pulled my sister from my motherвЂ™s womb. SheвЂ™d felt personally responsible for the near tragedy. A strange bitterness had coated my tongue, as if I could taste her residual shame. Her birth was a battle that was swift and brutal and nearly took my motherвЂ™s life, Mahsami had confessed. It was as though your motherвЂ™s body wished to be rid of the baby, but your sister had no wish to be born. Something was wrong from the start, sheвЂ™d told me that night, firelight flickering across her lined face, her voice a soft hum over the clink of the dishes I continued to wash, fearing she would stop if I did. After a particularly tense supper, when it was just me and her left in the kitchen to clean up the dayвЂ™s mess, IвЂ™d dared broach the subject and sheвЂ™d been too tired or too upset to deflect my curiosity as she normally would. Mother never spoke of what came next, but Sami did. Mahsami-or Sami as I called her-once told me that some women cried, wailed, even screamed in labor, but not my mother. One was of my mother, lying on that bed that had always dwarfed her, hair as dark as ravenвЂ™s wings limp against her head, face wan and lips the bloodless gray of a corpse, while Mahsami bent over her straining belly. TheyвЂ™d tried to shoo me away, but I was only three years old and tenacious and soon they were too absorbed in the impending birth to be concerned with me. Lucky, or providence, that Mahsami made it in time.

#Cry of fear stranger windows#

Windows had been flung open in futile hopes of cooling off the citadel that was our home, but instead only admitted an achingly dry breeze, like the hot breath of a Scylla that inhaled smoke and exhaled fire. When she did say anything, she recalled how the heat had been unbearable, rising from the sun-baked earth, sweltering in the way only a midsummerвЂ™s night could. Mother refused to talk about it-the one night she wished to forget, but never could.

The night my sister was born, the stars died and were reborn in her eyes. I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night. Love what you read? You can pre-order LarsonвЂ™s novel here. YouвЂ™ll have to wait until November to read Sisters of Shadow and Light, but you can check out an exclusive excerpt today! The excerpt below details InaraвЂ™s stunning birth, revealing the ramifications for her family years later. WeвЂ™re excited to reveal the cover below, which was designed and illustrated by Jim Tierney. Inara inherited their fatherвЂ™s Paladin power her eyes glow blue and she is able to make plants grow at unbelievable rates, but she has been trapped in her own mind because of a вЂњroarвЂќ that drowns everything else out-leaving Zuhra virtually alone with their emotionally broken human mother.ДЇor 15 years they have lived, trapped in the citadel, with little contact with the outside worldвЂ¦until the day a stranger passes through the hedge, and everything changes. On that same night, a massive, magical hedge grew and imprisoned them within the citadel. Zuhra and Inara have grown up in the Citadel of the Paladins, an abandoned fortress where legendary, magical warriors once lived before disappearing from the world-including their Paladin father the night Inara was born. Intrigued? HereвЂ™s the description from the publisher:

#Cry of fear stranger series#

The bestselling Young Adult author of the Defy trilogy and the Dark Breaks the Dawn duology kicks off another enchanting series with her upcoming book, which Tor Teen will release on November 5th. LarsonвЂ™s captivating novel following two sisters in a magical realm. So begins Sisters of Shadow and Light, Sara B. The night my sister was born, the stars died and were reborn in her eyesвЂ¦.