"Just that the feeling is mutual. The same way you can't lose me?" Gwyn shook her head. "I can't lose you." The shadows on Azriel's shoulders wriggled down his arms, coming to wind around Gwyn's wrists like an affectionate pet. "Berdara, you're not going to lose me." "What if Beron tries to-" Azriel lowered his voice, "Beron Vanserra is an old fool, too blinded by his lust for power and insecurities to see that his ruin is right under his nose." ____________________ Sequel to "Trial of the Valkyrie" -- A few months after her brush with death in Illyria, Gwyneth Berdara's Vanserra magic reaches its breaking point. Together, the Valkyrie and the Shadowsinger travel to the Autumn Court to uncover the mystery behind her unruly power. But when Beron learns of Gwyn's lineage, will his machinations tear her and Azriel apart? **Daily updates starting 2/17/2023 w/ teasers on my TikTok/IG @readthesefics

Prythian was amid a time of peace; a feat that its inhabitants had fought for and defended for decades and centuries. The Inner Circle, ever-growing with new additions, maintained a steady rule over their territory and trained their heirs to cultivate and nurture everything that they had once sacrificed for. As an Heiress to the High Lord and Lady's throne, Valeria would go to the ends of their World and any others in existence for her Court and her people, no matter the cost. Had grown into her power and strength and cunning to do just that. But there was an evil inside of her; a beast clawing at the cages she so dutifully enforced to keep it secured. And as that beast of night and shadow raged through the darkest depths of her begging for release, fear of the danger she posed and the weight of a crown not yet donned threatened to bring her to her knees. However, Valeria bowed to nobody. And once the gates of Realms were open and her family and continent were faced with an impossible war alongside allies from Worlds she had not known to exist, the choice to yield herself to the creature within proved to be as heavy as any throne. Whether it would be their salvation or ruin, she had yet to decide.