Crown of Crowns

Crown of Crowns

Clara Loveman

Praise for Crown of Crowns

“Crown of Crowns is a sweeping, epic, futuristic YA novel that is so engrossing. The plot is well-paced and so well written, and the characters feel so real. A great read.”

Kelly McFarland, TBHonest

“The mix of YA, sci-fi, fantasy and romance is a breath of fresh air, and when you add the unpredicted twists and turns in the mix, it’s a combination resulting in a really good read.”

NetGalley Reviewer

“Phenomenal … Clara Loveman is a creative genius.”

CovetedBooks, Book Reviewer & Blogger

“The author succeeds in telling a story of a young woman’s path to free her people from their shackles.”

The US Review of Books

First published in 2020

Copyright © 2020 Clara Loveman

The right of Clara Loveman to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Author, nor otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

ASIN: B08BJGNHT7

First Edition: August 2020

This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or actual people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ClaraLoveman.com

For the wild, the unsung and the nameless

Chapter 1

Will they punish me for being here?

I was far from where I was supposed to be, far from NordHaven, my home. I must have looked strange to the commoners. They were casual in lightweight clothing, while I walked among them wrapped head to toe in heavy blue garb. Gaard’s brutal sun had me stopping to wipe sweat from my brow, the sound of my heartbeat thrashing in my ears.

“No time to stop,” Roki said, looking back at me. “I have so much to show you.”

I smiled at his eagerness. “I’m coming.”

Of course, I would have followed Roki anywhere. I had already followed him from the safety of my home and into the rabble of the city. I would have followed Roki to the Surrvul Desert and beyond. This boy was something new, something exciting that I’d never expected to find.

“Just up ahead,” he called back. “We’re almost in the square.”

I paused another second to adjust my headscarf. I had it wrapped around my neck but also covering my nose and mouth. I looked like one of the Ava-Surrvul, the desert people who lived in sand huts. As I adjusted the scarf, someone bumped into me, and my sunglasses slipped off. “Oof,” I said. I looked back and saw my four Protectors appear out of nowhere and surge into action like rabid machines out for blood.

Their mechanical hulls were shaped like human chests. Their legs were clunky metal limbs, and their arms were fully plated in bulletproof steel. They strode forward as a group, intent on the poor man who had bumped into me. Exactly what did they plan on doing with him? I held my breath.

“I’m sorry,” the man said. He spoke with a commoner’s accent. He was disheveled, wearing loose rags and a pair of weathered sandals.

The mechanized Protectors were almost upon him. I wanted to scream, “Leave the man alone!” But I had frozen, rooted to the spot.

Thankfully, Roki whisked ahead of me and stuck out his hand. “No,” he said, and to my disbelief, the Protectors stopped, reversing back into the crowd and fixing their lifeless machine eyes on me.

“How did you do that?” I asked, gaping at Roki.

He shrugged. “Protectors may be controlling, the steel arm of justice and authority for all of Geniverd, but don’t forget, Kaelyn, they are still machines. They’re just robots. We made them, not the other way around. And because they are machines, they are programmable.”

I blinked up at him, letting my head fall back, and crossed my arms. I was in ever-increasing awe of the man who had swept me off my feet. Roki was witty, charismatic, mysterious. “You fascinate me,” I said.

He had a grin that conveyed secret knowledge. “You haven’t seen anything yet.” Roki took me by my hand. “Come, I want to show you more. More, Kaelyn. There’s so much more!”

I let him guide me through the throngs of commoners in the historic district of the city. It was all so foreign to me, even though these were my people, the Ava-Gaard. I was fifteen years old, and yet I had never been among them. Not like this. Never had I struggled through crowds while sweat burned my eyes and so many shouting voices threatened to deafen me. I could feel my heart thudding in my chest, could hear blood rushing through my ears. This was the thrill I had been waiting for my whole life. It felt like everything I’d ever known—my dull existence inside the halls of NordHaven, my family, my friends—was all a monotonous blur up until this moment.

Still, I was quivery, my mind racing. What would Mama and Papa do if they knew where I was?

He must have sensed my trepidation. “I know you’re nervous,” he said, still leading me by my hand. “You’ve never pushed through a swarm of Ava-Gaard while they breathe in your face and step on your nice leather boots. This is a change for you.”

I glanced awkwardly at my boots as if I’d just seen them for the first time. How much was there that I didn’t know? Roki had only agreed to take me here after I’d begged him for days and promised to wear a disguise. He’d said my parents would never allow any of this,