Empire of Glass and Stone

By Brooke Clonts

Forbidden love meets forbidden powers
What is love, if not a competition? And what is failure without blood?

Eighteen-year-old Yakua Roca worries more about her marriage prospects than the emperor who flattens kingdoms on his march toward the border. But when stone giants attack her village, Yakua's ambitious plan to marry a priest turns against her and she finds herself a peace offering to a man with a reputation for cruelty.

Yakua must navigate a dangerous betrothal, accept her shameful past, and stave off the burn of forbidden desire.

Or leave everyone she loves in the careless hands of the monster she has to marry.

For fans of epic fantasies and forbidden romance, this unforgettable tale will immerse you in a gorgeous and unique world with steep mountain peaks, mysterious magic, and unforgettable characters.

AUTHOR ENDORSEMENTS:

"Rich world building, mysticism, complex family histories, chemistry–EMPIRE OF GLASS AND STONE has it all. You'll love Yakua's intensity and her fierce transformation." —Jenna Evans Welch, New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato

"Set in a world the gods long-ago abandoned, EMPIRE OF GLASS AND STONE crosses the razor edge of hidden magic, political intrigue, terrifying customs, and a single chance to make things right. Yakua Roca, the unstoppable female lead, learns what one will do for power, and another for love. A triumphant debut YA Fantasy novel!" —A.K. Wilder, bestselling author of Crown of Bones

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brooke Clonts
• Release date: Feb 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9798985171907

Brooke Clonts

Brooke Clonts was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her passion for writing started as a kid when she spent most of her time hiding in her bedroom with a book. Her cousin recommended she try writing and it became her obsession. She has a degree in exercise science she's never used, works as a software engineering manager for Adobe, and is a wife and mom to the most beautiful boy in the world. She often writes late at night after her son goes to bed. But her stories follow her all day long.

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Praise for Brooke Clonts’

Empire of Glass and Stone

Set in a world the gods long-ago abandoned, EMPIRE OF GLASS AND STONE crosses the razor edge of hidden magic, political intrigue, terrifying customs, and a single chance to make things right. Yakua Roca, the unstoppable female lead, learns what one will do for power, and another for love. A triumphant debut YA Fantasy novel!

—A.K. Wilder, bestselling author of Crown of Bones

Rich world building, mysticism, complex family histories, chemistry–EMPIRE OF GLASS AND STONE has it all. You'll love Yakua's intensity and her fierce transformation.

—Jenna Evans Welch, New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2021 by Brooke Clonts. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Second Star Press, LLC

PO BOX 471

DRAPER, UT 84020-0451

Edited by Kelley Riegert, Karie Crawford, and Katherine Petersen

Sensitivity Read By Stacey Parshall Jensen @SParshallJensen

Cover design by Ben Dougal

Map created by Brooke Clonts

Map art paintbrush pack from Josh with @mapeffects

Interior design by CookieLynn Publishing Services

Ebook ISBN 9798985171907

Paperback ISBN 9798985171914

Hardback ISBN 9798985171921

Audiobook ISBN 9798985171938

Library Of Congress Number 2021923249

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Edition January 2022

I always thought I’d marry someone handsome, with refined features, rich, dark eyes, and soft lips. Someone very unlike the man before me. But my mother told me a secret: marrying for love is for the poor, and no one admires a pauper.

She made that mistake. I wouldn’t.

Darhi knelt on our layered rug floor and offered me a braided leather shoe. Yakua, I will serve you and love you forever.

My father sat on a rug by the hearth and his eyes darted from my shoe to Darhi. His lips were pursed, his shoulders hunched as he clutched a fistful of unraveled tassels. He should be happy, excited even. Most women got stuck in arranged marriages, but Darhi rejected the tradition and was proposing without his parents’ approval. Marrying him would give me status and offer my stepsisters sturdy foundations for their own marriages.

I offered my foot and Darhi slipped the shoe over my toes. His fingers slid across my ankle and didn’t let go. My father and sisters would benefit from this, and I could learn to love Darhi. He was a good man, even with his mud brown, greasy hair and the lingering scent of rotten fish that followed him wherever he went.

I accept.

My stepsister, Zarrill, embraced him as he stood.

Welcome to the family. Zarrill gave me a long look over Darhi’s shoulder, one skeptical eyebrow raised as she stepped back and smiled at him. She didn’t believe I loved him, or that he loved me.

My younger half-sister, Naya, hugged him as well, then my father grasped Darhi’s hand and opened the front door. A breeze carried in sweltering heat as my father poured his cup of wine over the dirt. It seeped into the ground and left a wet circle. To the gods. May they live on in the stones of our homes. He drank the rest of his cup and Darhi did the same with his own, a broad grin stretching his mouth.

I kissed Darhi’s cheek and whispered in his ear, Thank you. My family would expect me to show affection, and Darhi would expect it most of all from the woman who wanted to marry him.

I would be his soon. What would it be like to belong to someone? To weave cloth for him and wash his clothes? I would have his children and pray at his side to Ma Cochira, the goddess of the sea. I would live in a house like this one, with stones flawlessly placed and with the occasional square window to let light in.

My foot twinged as it slid against the confines of the engagement shoe and humid heat penetrated my thin dress. The room swelled with people, but my stomach only hollowed.

I touched Darhi’s wrist. I must go. I need to tell my friends the good news.

He slid a finger down my arm, his face a little too close. Of course. His eyes traveled down my legs where the skin of my shins showed beneath the hem of my dress.

I backed away. I planned to avoid his touch for as long as possible since I only tolerated it for the good of my family.

As I pushed aside the curtained door, salty air filled my chest and lingered on my tongue. I had done the right thing. Darhi would be good to me. My sisters would praise me and my father—well, he’d thank the goddess he could live with his new family without the uncomfortable memories my presence brought.

No matter. The whole village would hear of the engagement and be amazed at my conquest. They would whisper they were wrong about my mother and me.

One person needed to hear of my engagement before anyone else. I had to see Sunqu’s remorse as he ingested this news—the regret as it carved frown lines into his cheeks.

I hurried down the stone stairs.

Yakua. My father’s tone lacked enthusiasm.

I turned and my father beckoned me from the doorway. He hadn’t spoken to me alone in ages, not since my mother died when I was six years old, still half the age of Naya. Not since he told me I would have a new mother soon. He didn’t smile like I expected. Instead, his forehead wrinkled and one vein throbbed near the surface.

As I approached, his thick, black brows created deep furrows above his wide nose. Yakua, before you go, are you sure this is what you want? Did Darhi make this decision on his own? He scowled like he used to when he argued with my mother. They disagreed on a lot of things, but mostly on how best to support the family.

What do you mean? I must have misunderstood. Of course, Darhi made the decision on his own. I couldn’t make his decisions for him.

Did you persuade him to marry you? His eyes narrowed and he tilted his head, as if he had guessed I used my power on Darhi.

It’s not like a sane wealthy man couldn’t love someone like me without his spirits being manipulated. I had only prodded him a little. No, how can you say that? He never believed me, even when I promised I didn’t use my power.

Your mother— His face clouded over. You’ve grown up to be so much like her. Marry someone you love, Yakua. She would give you the same advice, and probably with more conviction than I can. His tone carried bitterness.

He, of all people, should know better than to speak of her like she didn’t care. I do love him. Far more than you ever loved her.

My father’s mustache quivered, and he clasped his hands behind his back. I did love your mother, even in the end. The things that drew me to her were always there, which is why we stayed together so long. But we wanted different things, and we didn’t make each other better. Eventually, we grew apart. You can’t marry someone hoping they’ll want the things you want, and you certainly can’t marry someone thinking they’ll erase everything the clans say about our family. Your mother’s reputation will stay, despite the person you marry.

Flames flared in my chest. He’s a priest, father—

My father raised a hand. That doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, your mother still worshipped the goddess of death. We can’t get rid of that rumor, especially since it was true. He bit his lip and a lump worked its way up my throat. I realize I didn’t show this enough, but I want you to know I truly loved your mother. I loved her vivacity and her wit. But your mother wanted more than this simple life and she was dissatisfied with my contentment. All I wanted was for everything to stay the same. She wanted the world, and she did terrible things to get it. The lines around his eyes tightened.

The clans whispered that my mother manipulated people to get to the monarchy and killed a member of the Huya clan, our kingdom’s nobility, when they didn’t give her what she wanted. She used to disappear for days at a time and we didn’t know where she went. Worse was my mother’s strange method of worship.

I don’t want you to get caught up in your mother’s disgrace, my father continued. I want you to be happy with what you have and not marry someone to climb social mountains that only lead to ruin. Beware of your powers, Yakua. People can tell when they’re being manipulated and it only leads to distrust. You can’t repair our reputation this way. It won’t work. You must let go of this side of yourself.

He was rarely this open with me, but I preferred his silence. He was wrong. It would work.

It had to.

I love him, I repeated. My father couldn’t change my mind and I couldn’t let go of the one thing that set me apart. The gods had disappeared from the world ages ago and the bloodlines of their descendants ran thin. Very few people left in the kingdoms had command over any kind of magic. I hadn’t heard of a descendant of Cochira having power over emotion instead of the tides. The power had manifested in my mother and me for the first time in generations. I couldn’t ignore that. The gods knew my family needed it.

A frown creased his cheeks. If you truly do love Darhi, then you have my support. He paused. I hope the two of you have all the happiness the gods can bring and that Darhi won’t concern himself with the blot your mother brought to this family. He ducked behind the curtain to rejoin my stepmother and sisters inside.

Surely, my father recognized the usefulness and validity of this venture. I could save the whole family.

My engagement slipper flopped against my heel as I walked down the sandy road that cut through the grass. The slipper folded over a loose stone and I stumbled. Blood trickled down my ankle.

Stupid shoe.

Every time I tried to do something right, someone rejected my efforts. I made a rug for my mother once with patterns of the Folqu birds and snakes alongside the greater serpent of the sea—Mungacu. I had spent hours on the snakes’ eyes because she loved those scaly creatures, but she hardly looked at them. She hadn’t cared for weaving, not even mine. She had preferred that I memorize the history of the gods because that’s what the noble Huya clans emphasized in their faraway schools.

A line of tents formed the market by the docks. Boats bobbed on the water and merchants sold wares in the shade of their shops. The slap of dozens of fish hitting the bottoms of merchant baskets brought the familiar briny stench of the sea. I strode past each of them as the sand swallowed the green grass.

I pushed a tent flap aside and stepped into the shoe shop of my old rival from school as he stitched soles at a worktable. He wore a ragged tunic and a simple loincloth—the fashion of a poor man who will always remain so. He glanced up and smiled as I entered, his golden brown hair hanging in his face. Yakua.

The strong earthy smell of leather replaced the fishy scent from outside as the curtain swung shut behind me. Rows of molded leather hung from sticks wedged into the gaps of the stone walls. Knives, bottles of liquid, and straps were strewn across the worktable.

Hello, Sunqu. I fingered the turquoise necklace Darhi gave me the night he first mentioned marriage. Where’s your father? I have exciting news for him.

He already knows you’re engaged. Sunqu pointed to my mismatched shoe. Darhi bought it yesterday.

Sunqu knew and yet he acted the same as he always did—completely unaffected. My chest hollowed. I would never be good enough to stir jealousy in him.

I assume you made it? The craftsmanship is very fine. I filtered the disappointment from my voice and gave him my best smile instead. Darhi wouldn’t have to make shoes as a priest.

Sunqu set down the soles he finished stitching. I did.

I ground the toe of my shoe into the dirt floor. I love the leather. You’re very talented, you know. You might make something of yourself and get out of this place. It’s what I’d do.

His brow furrowed and he stared at me so long I was forced to fill the stale air or drown in it.

Please pass the word on to your father, if you’d be so kind. My family and I are very excited.

Yes, Darhi, a man who made something of himself, wanted me. All of me, including my family, living and dead. Something no one in this village could understand, especially not Sunqu. He’d regret what he said all those years ago, especially when I rose above any woman he could possibly marry in his current station.

Sunqu opened his mouth as a set of hands squeezed my shoulders from behind. Yakua, Sunqu’s father said. Congratulations! Darhi came yesterday and told us.

I turned to face Sunqu’s father, and my chest warmed as Sunqu’s expression soured. His father only ever spoke to me kindly, even when I had scored higher than Sunqu at school and showed my marks to anyone with eyes to see them. I had always harbored a hope that one day Sunqu would see me too, but it was too late for that now.

Sunqu’s father gripped both my hands. He wore the same simple garb Sunqu wore, though he looked twice the man in it. When’s the wedding?

Wedding? I suppose it had to happen sometime, unless some delay enabled me to keep my freedom longer. Soon… sometime.

Their eyebrows rose, a little too knowingly. No one had responded to my news as I had anticipated. Excuse me, I have to go. Thank you for your congratulations.

Sunqu’s father bowed with a fist over his heart as I backed out the door, but Sunqu returned to his shoe repair as if I hadn’t come in at all. I couldn’t go home; Darhi might still be there.

I needed time to come to terms with my new future and plan what more I could do to prove myself a positive contributor to the clan. I snuck to the back of my house where my swimming garments hung from a clothesline, snatched them down, and rushed to the one place I truly reigned.

The trees scattered sunlight as I hiked through the jungle. It wasn’t far to the ocean’s cliffs, but the sun mounted the highest cloud in the sky as I arrived.

I climbed to the top of the tallest ridge and let my toes creep over the edge. Little rocks tumbled down an elegant waterfall and splashed into the churning blue below—a canvas that stretched for miles until it met the horizon. Salty air filled my lungs and the strain of the previous few hours melted from my shoulders.

I could live here, right in this sacred spot, where quiet minutes met fond memories that pulled me to my earlier years when I came here with my father and the clan. Usually a clan consisted of the mother’s extended family, but my mother had had no family. So we stayed in the village with my father’s clan instead.

My father boasted of my bravery when I jumped from the rocks near the shore, where not even the older boys ventured. The praise tasted better than tea leaves. It buoyed me enough to climb to the tallest cliff and peer over the precipice.

Back then, the height made my stomach curdle, but I had closed my eyes and jumped. My body floated as it turned in the air, until water smacked my stomach and the world flashed black for an agonizing instant. I had gasped and bit back tears as I swam to shore. My father had lifted me from the water while my older cousins patted my back. I became someone new that day. Someone important, if only for a moment.

I’ve chased that feeling ever since.

I could make this plan work. I could marry Darhi, prove to my father we could escape the rumors my mother left behind, restore her reputation and the family’s, and feel that same sense of triumph again. I hadn’t felt it in so long—not since I finished memorizing the stories of my ancestors in school or the crop schedule in the stars. My school’s graduation test had come and gone, and I was done, my lifelong goal of beating Sunqu over. Now marriage was the next step if I wanted to establish myself as a contributing member of the clan, but even marriage didn’t seem good enough now after my father scolded me for nothing.

You don’t have to do it, came Sunqu’s voice from below.

He knew me all too well. You mean jump?

You know what I mean. Marriage isn’t a competition. Your father doesn’t care who you marry or what you do, so long as you’re happy. Sunqu stood several feet from the edge of a lower cliff. He never got any closer.

You’re right. Marriage isn’t a competition, but diving can be. Why don’t you join me?

Sunqu didn’t move. You know I’m afraid of heights. Criminals get thrown off cliffs as punishment. It’s not meant to be a pastime.

Yes, but I had hoped you might get over that. I jumped. The air swept over my arms and shoulders until the water slapped my feet and I dropped into it. Bubbles tickled my skin and popped as I swam to the surface and wiped water from my eyes.

I swam around the waterfall and Sunqu’s tiny figure climbed down the rocks. As I waded through the shallows, he strode down the shoreline where I couldn’t avoid him, or keep from the concern that glimmered in the gold rings around his irises.

What do you want? I asked.

He raked his hair with his hands. Yakua, you’ve beaten me at everything. Can’t we have a normal conversation just once?

At least he admitted to my superiority. I’m listening.

He sat where the water knocked against the sand and jabbed a finger into the pebbles. I know I’ve apologized for this before, but I can see it still bothers you. You get that same expression when you look at me, even now. I’m sorry for what I said all those years ago.

When my mother died, my father remarried soon afterward with a baby on the way. Their excitement over the unborn infant should have equaled the happiness my family had before my mother died. But that past was soiled, and the future we might have had with my mother was gone.

Sunqu had joined my solitary grief on the steps of the schoolhouse, assuring me my pain would pass. He said my father was happier without my mother and that the clan praised Heliray, the goddess of death she loved so much, for taking her from us.

It was reprehensible, he continued, and I know why you hate me for it, but please understand I was young and only repeated what I heard. I didn’t intend to hurt you.

I was the daughter of that mother—the evil, manipulative mystic the people of my village scorned, though I loved her. I was all that remained of her. Not only did the clan avoid me and my family, but my father smiled more with my mother gone, and laughed harder when I wasn’t in the room.

I knew I shouldn’t think of it, but a part of me worried my father’s love for me had faded after his new family showed him a functional happiness he never found with my mother and me.

My throat tightened. You shouldn’t have said it. I don’t expect you to understand now, just like you didn’t understand then.

But I do understand.

No, you don’t. My voice rose and I couldn’t stop myself from continuing. When your mother died, your father didn’t remarry. The village didn’t reject your whole family.

His mouth pinched.

I continued on without taking a breath. The schoolmaster offered to find you a job serving the royal family so you could bring in extra income over the summers. He wouldn’t do that for me. He’d never even think of it. I had to fight for my little village teaching job and I almost didn’t get it, even though I was the top of our class.

Sunqu exhaled slowly. Yes, but that doesn’t make any of this right. He stood, his expression grim. I understand your frustrations but I’m taking the time to talk to you, despite who your mother was, because I care about you. Darhi is a good man. He deserves a woman who loves him.

I lifted my chin and turned away as water lapped at my sides. I’m marrying Darhi, and I don’t need your approval. I didn’t need his judgement either.

His heels crunched the sand. Yakua, I didn’t mean for this conversation to turn sour. May I walk you home? I promise I won’t plague you about your wedding—not a single word on the way.

I shouldn’t have been so harsh, but I wouldn’t apologize either. Anyway, my family expected me soon. Fine. I forgive you this once. But next time you chase me down to scold me, I expect you to cliff jump too. I stepped out of the water and slid a dry dress over my wet clothes.

Sunqu averted his eyes and hovered several feet away, but he smiled as I stepped past him. Keep your expectations as high as you like, but you won’t see me jump from any cliff of my own volition. I’ll happily forgo that crown. Besides, you shouldn’t jump off cliffs alone. There would be no one here to help if something went wrong.

I let him catch up so his arms swung inches from mine. I’ll do what I like.

I know you will.

He grinned as we made our way to the village past our old schoolhouse where I now taught my own students. His eyes lingered on the step where our friendship had chipped for the first time and his smile froze.

The memory couldn’t have affected him as much as it did me, but I cleared my throat. Remember the time you tried to impress Izhi? You tripped over those stairs and broke your wrist. I stopped liking Izhi the moment he told me he liked her. But Izhi hadn’t liked me to begin with. No one in my clan did.

Light returned to his eyes. I’ve never tried to impress anyone.

Liar.

His cheeks crinkled with mischief. The familiar expression brought back recollections from years before when he had pushed over the sandcastles I built by the waves. He would roar with laughter when I got mad and then built the castle again, taller than before. My chest warmed, but I pushed the memory away.

Sunqu rubbed his neck and slowed as we approached my father’s house. I’ll leave you here then. He dipped his head, but as he turned to go, my father shoved aside the drapes that hung from the front entrance.

Yakua, there you are. And Sunqu, come, we have news. My father waved us both in.

Sunqu hesitated. I should get home, Father Lamar. Even when we were children, he had always addressed my father properly.

No, stay, my father said. Please, we’re waiting for you.

Sunqu glanced over his shoulder, shrugged, and stepped onto the patterned rugs I had made that my father had layered by the door. Yakua told me about the engagement—

My father shook his head. No, not that. We received a messenger from the King of Cochas. His son just returned from traveling and is of marrying age. The King has invited the realm to a festival in his son’s honor. They intend to formally announce each young lady who comes. I’m sure you two would enjoy yourselves. My father looked at my sisters and his eyes sparkled as they grinned at each other. He didn’t look at me once.

The prince of our land planned to choose a bride! The King of Cochas had invited the entire realm, including my family, to meet him, rather than push his son to marry into the Huya clan. Perhaps that meant the King of Cochas could find no one lovely enough for his son among his peers, so he had extended his sphere to the other clans. Once the village learned of my engagement, surely Zarrill’s and Naya’s chances to find a good match would improve. And I could enjoy the