There’s no better accompaniment to a good cuppa than a good book! As part of our exclusive partnership with Pan Macmillan, we’re thrilled to be able to share a sneak peek at Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, the highly anticipated new cosy fantasy by Rebecca Thorne. We recommend brewing a cup of our No.54 Organic Dragon Well to fully immerse yourself in this magical tale.
About the Book
Elite bodyguard Reyna and powerful mage Kianthe dream of leaving their dangerous lives behind and opening a bookshop, serving the very best tea and cakes.
After risking too much, one too many times, the pair finally decide to run away and make their dreams a reality. In the town of Tawney, nestled in the icy peaks of dragon country, they set up shop. But trouble is brewing ahead…
Together Reyna and Kianthe must face mishaps, mysteries and a murderous queen throwing the realm’s biggest temper tantrum. They’ll also discover just what they mean to each other and the world.
Our Suggested Tea Pairing
Dragon Well Green Tea (also referred to as Long Jing or Lung Ching) is the most famous tea beverage in China. Our exceptional single-origin No. 54 Organic Dragon Well, comes from the mountainous terrain of West Lake, Zhejiang Province, which a protected destination of origin where the Chinese have been growing their national drink for thousands of years. The mild overcast climate with consistent rain allows the leaves here to preserve more theanine, which helps give Dragon Well its distinctive sweet and mellow flavour.
This popular tea has distinctive, emerald-green flat leaves and produces a clear yellow infusion with a pine-green hue and has a delicate mellow taste and sweet finish.
Read The Extract Now
Kianthe began stitching the wound closed, which was a struggle with her hands still trembling a bit. She hated this. She hated that the very definition of Reyna’s job was waiting for danger to strike. The breathless horror that encompassed wondering if she’d survive the next day, every day, forever.
Reyna had accepted it long ago. She turned her face upward, her hazel eyes tracing the firelight overhead as she steadied her breathing. Kianthe had to force herself not to stare at the sharp lines of her jaw and nose, or the way her ice- blond hair fell in tendrils from a loose bun.
After she messily stitched and redressed the first wound, she turned her attention to the scrapes on Reyna’s stomach. Basic armor— hell, even leather— would have helped avoid this. But palace guards didn’t wear armor, except for ceremonial purposes.
Even then, the plating was carved into decorative dragon skulls and coated in gold, useless for a proper attack. Reyna ranted about it often, and once Kianthe started paying attention, the queen’s choices were comically bad.
Unsurprising, considering the source.
Reyna had shed her crimson cloak at some point, leaving her in a form fitting tank and trousers, but the gold rings curving around the shell of her ears were remnants of a formal evening.
Kianthe carefully dabbed the blood spotting a few deeper scrapes on Reyna’s stomach. Her skin was warm under Kianthe’s touch. “So . . . after all this, maybe tonight you’ll give up on that miserable woman and run away with me?”
It was meant to be a joke. But when Reyna didn’t respond, Kianthe glanced up, and their gazes locked. Reyna’s eyes were light enough to be startling, dark enough to be mysterious— and now they were raw with emotion.
Something deep and impacting shifted between them.
“You’re acting strange,” Kianthe said. “It’s concerning me.”
Reyna drew a breath. “Ask me again. Just like you’ve asked me before.”
She didn’t have to reference what she meant. Kianthe knew.
She knew, because every minute they stole felt like a luxury.
Fleeting memories of beauty and happiness, bookended with the heavy knowledge that Reyna had committed to a lifelong career.
“You can’t leave your life either,” Reyna had teased, the first time Kianthe proposed it. “You’re the Mage of Ages. You have responsibility.”
Kianthe had rolled her eyes. “Who’s going to stop me? The Stone of Seeing? It hasn’t intervened with an Arcandor’s choices in a century. And it’s not like I couldn’t fly to the site of a natural disaster; that’s what I’m doing now anyway. We’d just have a different home base.”
Reyna had snorted and waved a hand, dismissing the idea.
Kianthe didn’t push. After all, Reyna had earned a position of power beside a vindictive queen, and unlike Kianthe, very real consequences would find her if she abandoned that post.
Those consequences didn’t seem to matter now. Reyna held her gaze, steady.
“Ask me again, Key.”
Kianthe’s mouth was dry. She swallowed hard, and the whispered words felt like a promise. “Run away with me. You like tea. I like books. Care to open a shop and forget the world exists?”
The words hung like a melody between them. Reyna closed her eyes, a soft smile curving her lips. Everything condensed to this moment: spelled firelight glimmering overhead, her blood seeping into the bandage, her face pale and drawn, and her expression so, so happy.
Kianthe was mesmerized.
“Okay. I’ll run away with you. Let’s find a shop and make a home and forget about everything else.”
The spell shattered. Kianthe squealed, throwing her arms around Reyna’s shoulders, utterly forgetting to be mindful of her wounds. They laughed together, their uncertain futures solidifying into something tangible and real and lovely.
A bookstore that served tea, perched in the most remote corner of the world.
Kianthe could see it already.
Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne publishes in hardback, audiobook and ebook on 9th May 2024. The story continues in the swashbuckling tale A Pirate's Life for Tea, out in stores in October 2024.
