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Chapters (55)
  1. Title Page
  2. Dedication
  3. World Map
  4. Pronunciations
  5. Author’s Notes
  6. Table of Contents
  7. A Forbidden Fate
  8. Prologue
  9. Chapter One
  10. Chapter Two
  11. Chapter Three
  12. Chapter Four
  13. Chapter Five
  14. Chapter Six
  15. Chapter Seven
  16. Chapter Eight
  17. Chapter Nine
  18. Chapter Ten
  19. Chapter Eleven
  20. Chapter Twelve
  21. Chapter Thirteen
  22. Chapter Fourteen
  23. Chapter Fifteen
  24. Chapter Sixteen
  25. Chapter Seventeen
  26. Chapter Eighteen
  27. Chapter Nineteen
  28. Chapter Twenty
  29. Chapter Twenty-One
  30. Chapter Twenty-Two
  31. Chapter Twenty-Three
  32. Chapter Twenty-Four
  33. Chapter Twenty-Five
  34. Chapter Twenty-Six
  35. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  36. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  37. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  38. Chapter Thirty
  39. Chapter Thirty-One
  40. Chapter Thirty-Two
  41. Chapter Thirty-Three
  42. Chapter Thirty-Four
  43. Chapter Thirty-Five
  44. Chapter Thirty-Six
  45. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  46. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  47. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  48. Chapter Forty
  49. Chapter Forty-One
  50. Chapter Forty-Two
  51. Chapter Forty-Three
  52. Chapter Forty-Four
  53. Chapter Forty-Five
  54. Acknowledgements
  55. About the Author

The dancing begins, and our guests stream to the floor, moving in tandem with the music. I patiently wait for Lachlan to ask me to dance, understanding that it may take him a while to work up the courage. He’s a nervous creature, and it’s hard to get a good read on him. But I think he likes me. I remind myself that he memorized my birth date.

I wait while our musicians play song after song into the night. I wait and watch Teddy spin and laugh with her partners as if no can see her.

I wait even as my stomach drops, and I feel a frown set itself snugly on my face.

I wait, but he never comes. He never asks me to dance.

I hear my father murmuring in the hall to the lady’s maid who helped me prepare for bed. He enters and sits heavily at the foot of my bed, tracing his finger across the intricate designs carved into the wood frame. His lips form into a bitter frown.

“Lester forbids Lachlan from marrying outside of Aeradian,” he finally says in a low voice. He doesn’t look up from his finger. “He does not wish to ruffle any feathers. If Lachlan marries you, Vaskis will consider it a breach in their allyship. If we wish to keep ours with Aeradian, we have no choice but to accept this.”

“But Baelliles sabotages our trade with Aeradian every day! Is this of no concern to King Lester? Does he not consider that a breach of our allyship?”

“I am afraid not. He has stated that any quarrel between Baelliles and Verdanian remains between us. He came to declare his friendship with our Kingdom, nothing more. Nothing less.”

I breathe evenly even as my eyes brim with tears.

My father steps away. “There will be no marriage between you and Lachlan, so there is no need to waste any time wallowing over it. Get your rest, we train early tomorrow. Do you understand this, Idalia?”

“Of course, Father.” I nod weakly.

There’s a moment of complete silence before the door opens and shuts. I turn my face into my pillow and sob. My heart does not ache because I cannot marry Lachlan, but because I again must face a harrowing truth that I’ve tried my best to run from. That a life filled with love and partnership, a life without loneliness, has been denied. It will always be denied.

I don’t believe I deserve to love anyone. Maybe I don’t believe in love at all.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

Idalia

Present Day