Book excerpt: Queens of Fennbirn contains two gripping stories from the New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns universe, written by Kendare Blake. The Young Queens is the story of the three queens when they were born, before they were separated - it gives a short glimpse of the time when they all lived together, loved each other and protected one another. It's also the story of the day they were torn apart and the immediate years that followed before the opening of Three Dark Crowns. The Oracle Queen - historically, baby queens born with the sight gift were drowned. This had been the practice for hundreds of years, so long that few were even born any more, as if the Goddess knew it would be a waste. It is a harsh sentence, but necessary, for it is well-known that in a queen the sight gift will run strong. Strong enough to drive her mad. This is the tale of the last sight-gift queen to be allowed to live. She was overcome by paranoia and false visions, driven past the brink by the phantom thoughts of others in her head, so she set upon the capital with bloody ruin, murdering whole houses, whole family lines, without trial. Or at least, that is how the tale is told. This is her story.