Kissed By The Gods by Caty Rogan

Here is a summary with spoilers for Kissed By The Gods by Caty Rogan

Leina has kept to herself for most of her life, ever since she learned her lesson that she should submit and kneel whenever needed. She learned that lesson the hard way. Not long ago, her twin brother was marrying her best friend, and Leina was so excited. She saw her best friend, and she looked beautiful. Going to the wedding was exciting, especially because she was also going with her boyfriend, Alden.

Then soldiers came quickly and started killing many people and taking others. Alden and her brother were all killed, and Leina watched her best friend go up in flames on her wedding day.

Years later, she lives with her parents, her older brother Seb, and her younger brother Leo. Leina continues to stay hidden because it seems she has power, as she is an Altor, and her family doesn’t want anyone else to know about it. But when soldiers come to their farm and kill their parents, Leina has no choice but to use her power and kill them, leaving the children on the run.

While running, they encounter a guard named Ryot, whose job is to find her and kill her for killing the guards. But when he finds out she has the power of an Altor, he hesitates and instead tells her that she is to go with him, and her two brothers can leave without harm. She agrees, and Ryot takes her to the Synod, which is where the Altors go to train.

Upon arrival, the Elders and high-level teachers are not happy that she has been brought because this is the first time a woman has been brought there. On top of that, the Princess, Rissa, is furious that Leina killed some of her guards, and she wants retribution. While they are all debating if she even has powers, Leina brings out her two bonded weapons, proving that she does have power. They do find her weapons odd, a scythe and pruning shears.

Everyone is now slightly more convinced, but then they all agree she is an Altor when death demons arrive, and Leina touches one without dying. The Elders and other Altors still question her loyalties, her powers, and what to do with her, with Princess Rissa still giving her the biggest problems. They then tell her that she should speak with the goddess Thayana to get answers.

At the temple of Thayana, Leina starts yelling after trying to summon the goddess, and she finally arrives, though it quickly turns into a nightmare and Leina is not able to speak. She is in pure pain as the goddess speaks to her and kisses her on her temple, telling her that she is giving her a gift. When Leina wakes up, she is still in immense pain and realizes everything that happened was real because the place where she was kissed now has a growing mark.

The healer, Elowen, comes to help her, which is when Leina finds out that Elowen is the daughter of the king and sister to Princess Rissa. She just chose to be a healer instead of working in court politics. Rissa then comes charging in because she still wants retribution for her dead guards, and Leina needs to pay for it.

Because of this, the next morning, Leina is put into a fight to the death against a man named Maxim. Luckily, Ryot helped train her all night, having a little bit of a soft spot for her. Partway through the fight, Maxim moves a headscarf covering the god’s mark on Leina’s face, and he believes it is magic that will help him win the fight. Leina then shows the mark completely, proving that she is actually blessed by Thayana. The Elders agree and say the fight must continue. After that, Maxim is more wary of her, and Leina is able to kill him quickly. Leina wins her fight.

Thanks to her win, Leina wants to talk to the Elders and the Princess immediately about her old city Selencia and the mistreatment that they have caused the city, including killing innocents and not allowing them to read. While surprised to hear this, they don’t seem very concerned, so Ryot offers a deal: he will go check on the city periodically to make sure they are being treated fairly, but Leina has to stay and train to become an Altor. She agrees and then has to start finding a master. No one seems right, and many others don’t want her because she is a woman. She then begs Ryot to be her master, and he finally agrees, though he tells her he is nervous because his last trainees are all dead.

Leina is then brought into Ryot’s team, which includes Nyrica, Thalric, Caius, and Leif, all of whom take her in and want to help with her training. Ryot pushes the training hard, which also turns into training in the mountains where the Faravars (flying horses) are. One day, she feels the need to come to the mountain and find her steed. During this time, she receives a hidden letter from a little valley; it’s from her brother, saying they found a place and are safe. Leina now wants to know more about this area and plans to eventually find them when she can.

One day, Ryot takes Leina on his patrol on the Faravars. His is named Einarr. But Leina gets tired quickly and needs a break, so they land. Then they are attacked by the Kher’Zenn. Ryot’s plan was for Leina to hide while he attacks from the sky. However, the man lands, finds Leina immediately, calls her by name, and says anything can happen. Leina kills him before he can say more. Ryot is concerned because, at this point, they have a decent relationship, and he worries for her. Leina worries too, especially when she starts having dreams of him and they are kissing. This changes when, during a training session, Ryot purposely humiliates Leina, and she feels like they are back to just being student and teacher. That night, Leina sneaks into the library to find more answers about where her family might be, but runs right into Elder. He has questions for her, and she has questions for him; they stay up that night answering each other’s questions and form an unlikely friendship.

A month of training goes by, and Leina goes out on another mission with Ryot. She forgets it is in the mountains and does not pack her furs, making it so the two have to share a tent that night. They share their first kiss, but Ryot stops, saying they shouldn’t. Leina accepts it, and the two move on. This is somewhat easy because Ryot is sent on a secret mission, leaving her behind. Since Ryot is gone, the rest of the team grabs Leina so they can have a fun night of drinking. While out, she finds out that relationships are forbidden, but she can have fun with whoever she wants. The team tells her that when she passes her test, they will take her to the pleasure house and she can have her pick. That night, her normal nightmares are interrupted when she dreams about her and Ryot sharing a tent again, though this time their kiss goes much further.

While Ryot is still gone, Leina has a run-in with Tryston, someone who has been bullying her since she got there. Now that Ryot is gone, he sees his opportunity. Leina puts up a fight but gets hurt badly and passes out, not before seeing Ryot arrive and take down Tryston. When she wakes up, Elowen is there to heal her, and then Rissa arrives in anger, upset that it’s her fault Ryot is once again sent away to the island of Somire on a secret mission. In the middle of their fight, Leina feels a pull; she wants to go find her Faravar despite being in the middle of winter. She does so and manages to find hers in a couple of days. Her name is Vaeloria, one of the only females ever chosen.

Leina spends the day with Vaeloria and flies around. She ends up somehow seeing Ryot and Einarr fighting for their lives. She runs to him, and Ryot’s neck is slashed open. She quickly stitches him up, and he says that even in his dreams she is so demanding. Then Leina wakes up. She quickly realizes it wasn’t a dream but real, and Ryot is injured. She finds Elder to tell him, and he realizes that she is a Veilstrider and sends people to look for Ryot. Elder now wants to be in charge of her training.

Ryot wakes up, realizing that Leina saved his life, and the two of them catch up. They are going to be separated for a while now that she has a new trainer, and he is going to fly to a different part of the islands to search for answers.

Flash forward four months: Leina and Elder have been training her Veilwalking powers. She is able to do it occasionally but not consistently. One time, it transfers her to some woods where she finds her little brother Leo and his new friend Bri, whose father is also an Aldor. Bri has some cryptic things to say to Leina, but before she can get more answers, Leina is pulled back to Elder. She is released from training for the day, but not before Ryot arrives. They haven’t seen each other in months, and he seems furious. He claims that whenever Leina Veilwalks, her physical body is left behind defenseless. Elder confirms this, saying it only happens when she is sleeping. Ryot is angry and requests that Leina be given a new room and a patrol to make sure no one attacks her if she Veilwalks unknowingly.

Now that training is officially done, her team comes to get her to take her to the pleasure house. Elowen helps dress her, and Leina goes out with them all. She finds a guy and flirts with him before realizing he is a little too handsy. She fights him off, but Ryot sees and gets angry, taking him out and beating him up. He then comes back into the room and tells Leina that only he can touch or look at her. He then proceeds to sleep with her, and the two are happy to hide their relationship. Ryot goes to find her some clothes but comes back to find Leina asleep, Veilwalking and defenseless. He carefully holds her and takes her back to their rooms.

Leina is pulled into the Veil by Bri, who is now able to give her a warning: the Kher’Zenn are coming, and she shows her a vision of what will happen if she doesn’t warn them, specifically warning the Aish people. When Leina wakes up, she tells Elder, and everyone starts traveling to the Aish area. Leina gets jealous when Ryot takes Rissa with him and even protects her a little when they arrive and meet with officials in Aish. Ryot is still focused on Leina, especially when a man named Ruveth starts taking an interest in her. Ryot doesn’t think he needs to worry, but then they all find out that Aldors in Aish are allowed to marry and have families.

That night, both groups meet to strategize, something that hasn’t happened in almost 1000 years, mainly because Ryot and Rissa’s people have been massacring Leina’s people. The Selencian people have been harmed for years, and things start to click for Leina about how badly the king has been treating his people. Even Ryot and Rissa are surprised, as are all the soldiers. But it really breaks Leina’s heart. That night, Ryot and Leina have a little fight, but then Ryot tells Leina that he has spoken to Rissa and other officials. They agree that King Heis needs to be deposed and that her people need to be freed. They kiss and make up but are interrupted when they hear trumpets: the Kher’Zenn are arriving.

It’s time for battle. Ryot tells her to leave, escape, and find a place to hide until it’s over, knowing her powers are not fully in control yet. She refuses and instead Veilwalks and proves Ryot wrong. Her power helps them, though Leina keeps getting injured and ignores it. Near the end, Leina pulls one last move to save many soldiers, and it works, though it leaves her and Vaeloria passed out and falling from the sky. Ryot and his steed catch them, and they realize they have just barely won the battle, though they lost a lot of people, including Caius and Elder.

When Leina wakes up, she is frantic and tells Ryot that there is another wave coming, then promptly passes out again. Ryot takes it to heart and evacuates everyone. They decide to go into the mines, the places where many of Leina’s people were sent to die. When Leina wakes up, she realizes she is safe but feels a pull towards something in the tunnel. She follows the feeling and finds the King. She decides this is the moment she needs, grabs her dagger, and goes for a killing blow, but Ryot follows her and stops her, saying that he wasn’t talking treason in the form of death, but of going through the proper ways to get the king off the throne. Leina is furious with him and says she doesn’t understand, until the King starts laughing and says he can’t believe his own son would try to get his father off the throne. Leina starts to piece things together and feels angered and betrayed that she was lied to by Ryot—or should she say the prince. The King then summons two of his guards to grab her and take her away, though one of the masked guards is revealed, and Leina looks into the eyes of a man she never thought she would see again: Alden.