New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly & Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author
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Shana Abé
Queen of Dragons
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The Drákon Series, Book 3
Bantam Books
ISBN-10: 0553588060
ISBN-13: 978-0553588064
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There exists a world beyond your own. There exists a world of frozen savagery, of ice and snow, and needle-tipped mountains draped smoky emerald in summer, and dusky blue every autumn. In this world, your safe and pleasant life is vanished, a mere illusion revealed. Comets are born here. Stars are stirred. Glaciers steam; diamonds sparkle; silent music saturates the very air—and mighty dragons tear furrows through it all, breathing light and fire in crystalline exhalations.
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All other creatures cower here. You are not welcome, so do not come. Should we see you, we might cast our pity downward to your earth, to grant you time to turn and hide.
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We might not.
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The sky is our realm. The mountains are our sanctuary.
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We are the drákon.
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Maricara of the Zaharen was born an eighteenth-century peasant but raised to be a princess. As the hidden leader of the drákon of the Carpathian Mountains, she represents all that is glimmering and elusive in her kind: polished strength, striking radiance...and a will to keep her kin safe at all costs, even if it means she must protect them from herself.
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Kimber, Earl of Chasen, is more new to his role as Alpha of the English drákon, but there’s nothing elusive about him. He is powerfully, unmistakably male, and has always been destined to rule his tribe. He’s also been engaged to Maricara for years—although she doesn’t know it.
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For generations, the dragons of Darkfrith believed themselves to be the last of their kind. The newly-discovered Zaharen are considered to be nothing less than a threat to their very existence. This threat must be contained, and Kim is willing to do whatever he must to achieve that. Even bloodshed. Even war.
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There could hardly be a pair of creatures less suited for marriage, much less diplomacy.
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Yet Kim and Mari’s destinies are about to collide in a very unexpected way. One hot summer night the princess steals into Darkfrith unannounced, bearing some extremely unwelcome news: the sanf inimicus, human hunters of the drákon, have revived their ancient sect, and are beginning to pick off the shapeshifters one by one.
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No one is safe. And unless Kimber and Maricara decide to unite after all, it might mean the end of every dragon, in every place....