The Beasts We Bury by D.L. Taylor

Mancella Cliff is the heir to her kingdom. Ever since she entered the Broken Citadel along with her sister Mara, she has been cursed with her magic. While Mara emerged having given up much of her body and returned with no magic, Mancella emerged with the ability to summon animals—but only after she kills them. That is why, ever since she was a child, her father has forced her to kill all sorts of animals, so that she can have many to summon.

On a particular day, her father forces her to kill a jaguar. It hurts Mancella deeply to kill the cat, because once she does, she gains its feelings and memories. She hates the magic that was given to her.

Meanwhile, Silver is a struggling thief trying to survive in the broken world Mancella’s father has created. He takes odd jobs so that he and his friends, Vei and Rooftop, can get by. One day, he goes to a man named Guerre, who gives him a task—the first of three. He is to steal the king’s seal. If he completes all three tasks, Guerre promises Silver a house, money, and safety.

Mancella decides to take on the job and begins planning a way to sneak into the castle.

After the incident with the jaguar, Mancella is expected at a dinner with her family and a neighboring kingdom. Her father deliberately tries to upset her in order to provoke the jaguar’s spirit and show off her powers to the other rulers. Mancella hates being used like that. However, one of the servants sees what happened and discreetly gives her a note, asking her to meet in the kitchen at midnight.

Silver has snuck in as kitchen staff and is the one who passes the note to Mancella. When she comes to meet him, he has to be careful, as what he is doing is treason. He tells her that he can help, but Mancella turns him down. After a night of deliberation, she changes her mind and decides to say yes.

When she confronts Silver, she wants to know more about him. He tells her that everything she needs to know can be learned at the academy, where he and all the other parentless children live. The next day, Mancella visits the academy and is horrified to find that the children are being tortured rather than educated. She calls for her father to come and demands he put a stop to it. Instead of addressing the problem, he proposes something else.

He tells Mancella that if she kills a man, she will be able to summon him. If she keeps killing, she could summon an entire army, hypothetically. He insists she try it. If she does not kill someone within a week, he says he will start killing people for her until she does.

Silver, who successfully stole the king’s seal, moves on to his second task—stealing a heavily guarded sword. At the same time, he must keep his promise to Mancella. When the two meet again, Mancella confides in him. She tells him the truth—that she is supposed to kill a man, but she does not want to. In return, Silver is mostly honest and reveals he is working for a group that wants to stop her father and prevent the coming war, which is less than two weeks away.

They come up with a plan. Mancella will pretend to kill Silver in order to appease her father, and in return, she will try to steal the sword for him.

Rooftop and Vei are brought in to help, though they do not trust Mancella and see her as just another royal. Vei decides she will fight Silver instead, believing she can make it more convincing. When the time comes, Vei makes the fight so realistic that Silver believes she is truly dead. Devastated, he runs off to deal with his emotions.

After the fight, Mancella is shaken and seeks comfort. She follows Silver and finds him, but he yells at her and calls her a monster. Mancella reveals it was all staged and she just wanted to talk. Feeling hurt, she runs away.

She finds her sister, who immediately calls her out for faking the death. Mara agrees to help her whenever she can.

Later, Mancella helps Silver steal the sword, bringing him one step closer to completing his final task. However, the king discovers the sword is missing and confronts Mancella. He tells her it is time for her to step up and apologizes for making her kill someone, especially since the magic did not even work.

Mancella decides she wants to learn from her father, hoping it will make her a better ruler. They go on an excursion together. Her father, who knows she did not kill the girl, places magic-suppressing bands on her and throws her into the middle of a fight. Luckily, Silver has followed them. He manages to rescue Mancella, but now the Prime knows what Silver looks like.

Mancella and Silver hide out in an old ship to recover. While there, Guerre appears. Silver finds it suspicious that Guerre knows what happened with Mancella and the Prime. Guerre gives Silver his third task: retrieve the bracelet that blocks Mancella’s powers and bring her to him. Silver refuses.

Guerre makes it clear that refusal is not an option. If Silver does not comply, Guerre will kill Rooftop and Vei. He gives Silver until the next day.

During the exchange, Silver manages to pickpocket some letters from Guerre. He learns that Guerre is playing both sides and manipulating a foreign kingdom that is preparing for war with theirs. Silver decides he will have to betray Mancella, but as long as he can get her and his friends out alive, he believes it will be worth it. He already has the bracelet, so he thinks it will be easy.

Silver convinces Mancella to wear the bracelet for a day. When they arrive at his home, she has completely forgotten about it. While she is there, Guerre appears. Mancella recognizes him as her long-lost cousin—the one who once tried to kill her father. They reunite, and she learns that he goes from kingdom to kingdom, killing rulers to make their lands better. He intends to do the same to her father.

He also reveals that her sister has been helping their father create the bracelets. Guerre tells Mancella that a plan is in place to kill both her father and her sister. Mancella fights him, but realizes that she is still wearing the bracelet and that Silver knew this would happen. She feels betrayed, even though Silver manages to remove the bracelet.

Guerre reveals his magic allows him to split into two people, and both versions leave. He tells Mancella that she wins for now but should consider what is best for everyone.

Mancella yells at Silver for what he did, then runs to the castle to try to save her family. Believing she is too late, she is surprised to find Mara still alive. Mara reveals that she does have magic and that their father has been using it against her for years. She has been placing pieces of her magic into jewelry and regrets that Mancella was affected by it. She offers Mancella a new necklace that releases all magic. Mancella puts it on, but it begins to kill her summoned animals, so she takes it off.

Mara is devastated but Mancella tells her it is fine, even though inside she feels like a part of her is missing.

Then her cousin, her father, and Silver enter the room. Everything is revealed. Guerre begins to fight them, splitting into several versions of himself. As the battle rages, Mancella’s father hands her a smoke bomb. She uses it, but instead of smoke, it emits a deadly substance that begins to kill Guerre. Mancella is nearly killed too, but Silver takes most of the blow.

Her magic feels death by her own hand. As she holds her dying cousin, she feels his spirit enter her. Her father begins to laugh, knowing that killing someone would allow her to summon them. He had planned it all.

Mancella is ready to kill him but stops when she realizes that doing so would mean absorbing his essence. She does not want that. Instead, she tells the general that there is a change in leadership. Mancella declares herself the new Prime and has her father taken to the cells.

Mancella steps into her role as Prime. She and Silver reconcile, and she offers him a place at the castle. He declines, saying he wants to earn his home.

As Prime, Mancella begins making real changes for her people and works to mend relationships with other kingdoms. After she officially becomes Prime, she returns to her room where someone is locked up. Mancella says the person must remain there until she figures out what to do with her. When the door opens, it reveals a different version of Mancella—an angrier version, a split just like her cousin was.