A Crown of Stars excerpt:

Zhanil barely noticed the man entering the nursery. From the pile of painted soldiers, animals, and blocks, he picked up the wooden horse that was his favorite toy—white with a red saddle—and gave his friend Arjuna the horse with the blue saddle. Both horses were chewed around the ears, and the paint was peeling from the hooves and underbellies. These were the signs of well-loved toys that had belonged to the boys for as long as they could remember.

Zhanil saw the flash of metal from the corner of his vision, but did not turn or realize something was wrong until Arjuna cried out.

Arjuna fell to his knees on the carpet beside him. Zhanil saw the man, whom he did not recognize as one of the servants, and the blood dripping from the knife in his hand. Bewilderment kept him from moving or crying out, even though Arjuna bawled on the floor nearby, and the man inched toward him.

A figure, disheveled and wild-eyed with rage, appeared in the doorway behind the man. Zhanil's only coherent thought was a name: Adeja. Open-mouthed, he watched his guardian—whom he knew was ill with a fever—seize his would-be assailant, shove him into the hallway and fall upon him with terrifying violence.

Shadows told the rest of the story. A knife rose and fell, and droplets of blood spattered against the wall in time to the sounds of one man pummeling another until there was only silence.

The next thing Zhanil saw was Adeja, covered in blood, looming like a nightmare before him. Adeja stared at him, then steadied his wobbling frame against the doorjamb and lurched forward to gather Arjuna into his arms. "It is only a scratch," he rasped, his throat sore. "Stop crying. He's gone now."

Arjuna buried his face in his father's chest and sobbed. Zhanil looked from him to the pool of blood spreading in the doorway, then heard the alarm spread through the household. "What happened?" he asked.

Adeja, still hugging Arjuna close, looked at him. "Someone tried to kill you."