{"product_id":"the-nightblood-prince-isbn-9780593897393","title":"The Nightblood Prince","description":"\u003cb\u003eTwo kingdoms on the brink of battle. One prophesied empress to unite them, who finds herself caught between two princes, and the fact that love alone may not stop the coming war. A thrilling young adult romantasy from the bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eTo Gaze Upon Wicked Gods\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Beautifully written and brimming with defiance.\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Xiran Jay Zhao, #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eIron Widow\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eTwo princes. One prophecy. A fate she cannot outrun.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The night Fei was born, a prophecy was made: she would one day become the Empress of All Empresses.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTorn from her family as a child and raised in the palace to one day marry the Crown Prince of the most powerful empire in the land, Fei has only ever known loneliness. When the opportunity arises to seize her own destiny for the first time in her life, Fei sets out to hunt a legendary tiger, knowing it might cost her everything. What she doesn’t expect is to fall under the mercy of Yexue, the beautiful runaway prince from a rival kingdom. Blessed by the night, harboring a dangerous magic, and capable of commanding an army of deadly vampires, Yexue could be the key to Fei gaining more than just her freedom.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut to outrun destiny, Fei must spark a wave of events that will change the world as she knows it. Torn between two princes and plagued by nightmares of bloodshed, she finds that the stars might be more inescapable—and more irresistible—than she ever considered before. . . .\"A lush new romantasy series that puts a unique, Chinese-inspired spin on established vampire lore....\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Nightblood Prince\u003c\/i\u003e mixes swoon-worthy romance with sharp political intrigue \u003c\/b\u003eand a fearless heroine with a prophesied destiny.\" —\u003ci\u003ePaste Magazine\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Evenly paced prose and swoonworthy relationship dynamics explore themes of gender roles and fate, culminating in \u003cb\u003ean exciting new take on supernatural romantasy\u003c\/b\u003e.\" —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"With thrilling political intrigue, Chang’s YA debut doesn’t shy away from the hardships of war. \u003cb\u003eAn engrossing fantasy\u003c\/b\u003e featuring a fierce, feminist hero.\" —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eMedieval feeling and angsty\u003c\/b\u003e, the story and its love triangle feel authentic to the struggle of choosing between longtime expectations and what a young heart wants.\" —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eMOLLY X. CHANG \u003c\/b\u003eis the author of the international bestseller \u003ci\u003eTo Gaze Upon Wicked Gods,\u003c\/i\u003e and is a first-generation immigrant born in Harbin, China. \u003ci\u003eThe Nightblood Prince\u003c\/i\u003e marks her YA debut.1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I spent my life trapped behind crimson walls, inside this palace where I could dance along golden hallways and grand pavilions and do everything I wanted—­except leave.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eYou are the future empress. You need to be protected,\u003c\/i\u003e my father reminded me on the last day of each moon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Since I wasn’t allowed to leave the palace without written permission from the emperor, this was the only day of each month when my parents were allowed to spend rare hours with me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e We often wandered the peony gardens, took leisurely strolls along the koi ponds and exchanged pleasantries at my pavilion on the rainy days when we could not find other distractions to fill our silence. I had so much to say. I yearned to hug them and laugh with them like a normal daughter, but not under the surveilling eyes of the palace ladies who were here to monitor my every move, not just wait at my beck and calls.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Their eyes were always watching, ears always listening.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e When my parents asked me about my days, I forced smiles and pretended I was happy. I in turn asked about their days as if I didn’t have their lives told to me like soft-­spun folklore by the servant girls whose favorite pastime was gossiping about the capital’s families. Brief rays of sunshine against the vast gray of the palace life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e From my gilded cage, I heard about how my sister was growing up and how my parents were aging. I heard about my parents’ nosy neighbors, the noble ladies with whom Mother played mah-­jongg, the ministers who disputed with Father, and the men who were asking for my older sister’s hand with envy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e For I didn’t want to hear about that life. I wanted to live it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But I was the future Empress of Rong before I was my parents’ daughter.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Their words were always few and shallow and their smiles were tense, ever so polite. My parents bowed when they greeted me, and bowed when they said their farewells.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e My parents didn’t know how to talk to the future empress, who was torn from their arms before i was old enough to be off my mother’s milk.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I did not know what to say, either. Especially to my father.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Seventeen years, and I could not remember a single moment spent with them when I had not felt like a stranger on the outside, looking in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A child stolen, raised by servants who knew only to kneel and beg for forgiveness when I cried for my mother, father, and sister.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A girl whose only purpose was to marry a boy because the stargazer claimed I was destined to rule over a united warring states. But if I was chosen by the Gods and destined to rule, then why did visions of bloodshed and calamity haunt me every time I closed my eyes?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 2\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Premonition tingled at the edge of my senses.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A quick vision, a pulling instinct.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I foresaw the moment before I experienced it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eMagic.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I would have reached for my bow, if not for Father’s warning.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe first kill is not yours to claim.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 3\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Nobody cheered when Prince Yexue’s arrow claimed the first kill of the season.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The forest held its breath, waiting to see how Siwang would react.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Though Lan Yexue, too, was a prince, he was not a prince of Rong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To put it kindly, Yexue was a ward sent here by his uncle, to be educated by our great empire.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e To put it bluntly, he was a prisoner sent from one of our many tribute states, to be kept on a leash in case his uncle, the current Regent of Lan, dared to rebel.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A prince in name only, unworthy of claiming the first kill.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e After two years in the Rong court, surviving under enemy roofs, Prince Yexue \u003ci\u003eshould\u003c\/i\u003e understand 훙瞳肱瑀苟꼇돤꼇됴庫. \u003ci\u003eWhen living under the mercy of another, one must bow one’s head.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Is no one going to congratulate me?” Prince Yexue jumped from his horse to examine the prize, not an ounce of fear weighing down his tone.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e How princely of him: ignoring what was expected of him to do what he wanted.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Jealousy rattled.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Prince Yexue of Lan was a boy of sculpted angles and porcelain skin. Thick brows, sharp jaw, and the kind of doe-­brown eyes that made even the most proper of daughters lose their wits. To make it worse, he was also tall, towering over almost everyone with the exception of Siwang.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e All of that beauty, and the kind of arrogant, rebellious streak that only princes were allowed to have—­no wonder he’d caused a frenzy when he arrived at the capital two years ago. Every maiden had swooned at the sight of him—­and so had a handful of the imperial concubines and the city’s noble sons. Rumor had it that half of the court had tried to marry their besotted daughters off to him, despite his crumbling kingdom and uncertain fate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Visitors from across the continent came to Yong’An and the city had met plenty of beautiful faces before, though never one quite as haunting. Lan Yexue’s heavenly face was almost enough to make the court overlook his odd name and forget those swirling rumors of dark magic that his family practiced, and how his ancestors were the once-­cruel southern rulers who had almost driven Siwang’s ancestors to extinction hundreds of years ago.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eEmpires rise and empires fall.\u003c\/i\u003e Now Yexue’s country was our tribute state, and their beautiful prince was our ward.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “You have a sharp eye.” Tension eased slightly when Siwang finally cracked a smile.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I’ve had practice,” Prince Yexue replied, his voice cold as the frozen terrain surrounding. “Not everyone can be the pampered heir to the most powerful empire in the land with nothing to fear and nothing to want.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Caikun, the son of a first-­ranked general and Siwang’s personal guard, grimaced. His hand rested on his sword, his eyes on Siwang, waiting for a signal to strike.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Other lips twisted into half smiles, including mine. It wasn’t every day that someone had the courage to make fun of our beloved crown prince, however foolish it was.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This hunting party of fur coats and leather riding boots and bows decorated with gold and silver and bedazzling jewels comprised some of our empire’s most powerful heirs. The children of generals, first-­ranked ministers, and the wealthy merchants whose coffers filled the imperial treasury and funded our never-­ending campaigns to claim more land, more power.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e All in the name of my prophecy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The one thing these heirs had in common, besides status and wealth and gleaming gold spoons hanging from their mouths?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Their compulsion to worship the ground Siwang walked on as if their lives depended on it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Because in a way, they did.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 엌狼낵价낵꼇돤꼇价. \u003ci\u003eIf the emperor wanted a subject dead, the subject must die.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Regardless of status, name, or who their fathers were, all of their lives were delicate porcelain to Siwang, suspended on silk cords. If Siwang wished, he could make any or all of us fall to a death of ten thousand shattered pieces. Including me—­even if he would never admit it, even if the entire court thought otherwise.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I was the empress-­to-­be, but an empress still had to bend to the will of a man.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “The imperial hunt doesn’t officially start until tomorrow,” I interjected before this could escalate. “This is an outing of leisure, and a chance for us to scout out the terrain before we hunt the bigger prizes tomorrow.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Though Siwang’s jaw ticked with slight annoyance, the smile that followed was easy, charming, as princes were taught to be. “May the best man kill the first Beiying tiger tomorrow and bask in \u003ci\u003etrue\u003c\/i\u003e glory.”","brand":"Random House Books for Young Readers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233721856229,"sku":"NP9780593897393","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593897393.jpg?v=1767740733","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-nightblood-prince-isbn-9780593897393","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}