Magic and a Chaotic Kingdom Collide in Rory Power’s Next Fantasy Novel

Author Rory Power earned popularity of her YA fantasy novels Wilder Girls and Burn Our Bodies Down, however in 2022 she’ll be making her grownup fantasy debut with In a Garden Burning Gold, a story of magical twins that’s impressed partly by her Greek heritage. io9 is happy to disclose the quilt and first excerpt from Power’s forthcoming novel.

First up, a synopsis to introduce you to the characters:

Rhea and her twin brother, Lexos, have spent an eternity serving to their father rule their small, unstable nation, utilizing their management over the seasons, tides, and stars to maintain the folks in line. For 100 years, they’ve been one another’s solely ally, defending one another and their youthful siblings towards their father’s more and more unpredictable anger.

Now, with an independence motion gaining floor and their father’s rule weakening, the twins should take issues into their very own arms to maintain their household—and their total world—from crashing down round them. But different nations are jockeying for energy, able to cross and double cross, and if Rhea and Lexos aren’t cautious, they’ll find yourself going through one another throughout the battlefield.

Here’s the attractive cowl! The cowl design and illustration are by Faceout Studio/Tim Green, primarily based on pictures copyright Bridgeman Images, copyright Getty Images, and copyright Shutterstock.

And right here’s a primary take a look at the second chapter of In a Garden Burning Gold. It captures a household second that’s each candy and foreboding.

Chapter Two

Alexandros

Lexos watched from the doorway as his sisters stood facet by facet, rolling out dough for the pita. Chrysanthi was chattering away, her hair catching in her mouth as she described her most up-to-date venture for Rhea—some particular method the sealight hit the olive timber close to midnight. He’d heard it earlier than, had been dragged out of his mattress to come back and look, Lexos, come and see, however Rhea was at all times higher at giving Chrysanthi the grins and questions she was on the lookout for.

Usually, a minimum of. Today he might see Rhea’s consideration was elsewhere. She was doing her finest to hearken to Chrysanthi, however each few moments she glanced on the doorway, shoulders tight.

She was secure for the second. Their father was out, making one of many journeys Lexos wasn’t but allowed to comply with him on. He could be dwelling earlier than dinner, however with a bit of luck that they had one other hour of peace.

Rhea and Chrysanthi had completed with a layer of dough and Rhea was carrying it to the top of the desk, the place the others had been setting. When she’d completed draping the sheet of dough over the remainder, she reached for the bell hanging from the wall and rang it as soon as. The sound carried far all through the reaches of the home, calling to whichever servant may hear.

“Eleni will bring my bag,” she stated to Chrysanthi over her shoulder. “And then we can get started with the filling.”

Since they had been small Rhea had been one of the best of them at gathering her phrases, cupping her arms collectively as she instructed a narrative and watching the seed of it crystallize in her palms. Their mom had taught all of them how, had known as it a present given solely to their household line, however of the 4 youngsters Rhea was the one one who remembered the method.

Kymithi, they known as the candies. Not biscuits and never fruit however someplace in between. Rhea’s had been all sugar and cloves, crisp on the surface with a tender center. Lexos’s, when he tried, at all times got here out tasting bitter. Sometimes, within the evenings when he was ready for the celebs to burn via the sky, he would strive it once more. But the kymithi at all times got here out mistaken.

Maybe, Lexos thought, Rhea had higher luck as a result of she really had tales to inform. All Lexos might ever say was he’d been to a gathering with Baba, and he couldn’t say very rather more about it, and wasn’t that too unhealthy. 

Eleni ducked into the kitchen to place Rhea’s beaded bag on the counter, and left simply as shortly, a harried look on her face. She was most likely making ready with the opposite servants for Baba’s return. There was a sound from someplace in the home, the scrape of furnishings on the stone ground, and Lexos needed to maintain from flinching. Baba wasn’t due for one more hour a minimum of. There was time, nonetheless.

“What was he like?” Chrysanthi was asking, and Lexos got here additional into the room. He drew his coat tightly round him towards the coolness of the stone and settled onto a bench by the oven.

Rhea started to drop the kymithi, candied with maple sugar, right into a ceramic bowl as Chrysanthi hung off her. Under her apron Chrysanthi’s deep yellow robe was an outdated castoff of Rhea’s. Rhea had embroidered the crimson swirls adorning the bodice a very long time in the past, again when she was nonetheless as younger as she appeared, and you possibly can inform the stitchwork was unsteady for those who appeared carefully. Rhea had tried to throw the costume out, however Chrysanthi had begged and begged till Rhea let her maintain it.

His sisters. One brilliant and smiling, the opposite with a sharpness to her whilst she led her consorts of their marriage ceremony dance. He would miss this when Rhea was gone once more.

“He was nice enough,” Rhea was saying as she poured herself a cup of kaf, the wealthy, bitter drink Thyzaks favored in any respect hours of the day. “Brown hair, brown eyes.”

“But what kind of brown exactly?”

Lexos might see Rhea struggling to not snigger and bought up, coming to lean towards the kitchen desk. “Horseshit brown,” he stated, popping considered one of Rhea’s kymithi into his mouth.

“Ftama,” Chrysanthi stated with a pant, slapping Lexos on the shoulder, however Rhea snorted and let him steal one other kymitha.

“How are they?” she requested.

Lexos bit down and closed his eyes, let the tender heart of the kymitha soften on his tongue. It tasted of candy bread and early morning wind sneaking via a barely open bed room window. He swallowed shortly—no must for the remainder of no matter scene Rhea had chosen.

“Good,” he stated. “If perhaps a bit intimate.”

“Well, what did you expect? I have certain responsibilities.” Rhea picked via the bowl of kymithi to weed out a number of of the undersized ones. They had been small and spherical, every coloured barely in another way however all with the identical amber sheen. If Lexos appeared carefully, he might see one thing flickering on the heart of every one.

“You’re so lucky,” Chrysanthi sighed, and Lexos wandered round to the opposite facet of the desk. He’d heard this a thousand instances earlier than, and would seemingly hear it as many instances once more. “Why couldn’t I have been Thyspira?”

Long in the past, Lexos had wished for Rhea’s freedom himself—the lure of the world, the eye, the flowers tossed earlier than your ft—nevertheless it had solely taken a number of journeys throughout Thyzakos along with his father to persuade him in any other case. Chrysanthi may not understand, however she was fortunate to remain at dwelling, wrapped up in her work, in the fantastic thing about it.

“Privileges of the eldest, koukla,” Rhea stated absently as she started to put the sheets of dough on the backside of a baking dish.

Privileges of the eldest, certainly. Lexos had a number of of his personal that he would quite not take into consideration.

Excerpt from In a Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power reprinted by permission. Copyright Del Rey.

Rory Power’s In a Garden Burning Gold will likely be out April 5, 2022; you’ll be able to pre-order a duplicate here.