The Snake that Can Be Loved

Queen Neea was supposed to be Averleigh’s last kill, the final slip she’d been yearning to make since fleeing the battlefield and her sinister past seven and a half years ago, but she turned out to be more than just another target…

THE SNAKE THAT CAN BE LOVED tells the story of Averleigh Ravinoff, a queer protagonist who, after fleeing from the battle and the dark life she led, decides to start a new life with a promise to never kill again.

She didn’t run because she was scared of the battle; she ran because she wasn’t. She wanted to kill and see the sparks go out in their eyes. It made her realize how big of a monster she really was. In a sense, she ran because she was scared of herself. But she couldn’t keep running forever.

When an Adgarian soldier knocks on her door with the king’s final order, she’s forced to accept and return to the life of the elite assassin everyone knows as the King’s Blade. She accepts the order from her half-brother, the king, lying to herself that there is no other way. In reality, this is just an excuse to break the promise she gave to herself and kill again.

Averleigh is whisked away to another kingdom to the north, where her final target, Queen Neea, is to stay on official business for her kingdom. Disguised as a kitchen girl, Averleigh gets close to the queen but, failing to kill her, she falls for her instead.