WATTYS 2018 SHORTLIST "Every person is a book, Yael. You just need to find the right way to read them." In a land where a deadly curse forces all to wear masks, Yael steals the mask and identity of a noblewoman to infiltrate the nobility and find her abducted sister, but gets sucked into a twisted game of spies. Eighteen-year-old Yael was a talented mask-maker apprentice-but not anymore. Now, she's a spy, an imposter and a murderess. In the land of Vynam, all must wear masquerade masks to ward off the curse of the spectres, ghost-like beings that kill with a single touch. After the Somaer family, the richest nobles in Vynam, abduct her sister and her parents are put to death, Yael steals the mask and identity of a noblewoman to infiltrate the nobility, find her sister and avenge her parents. Her only chance of success-and survival-is if she can outplay the shrewdest spymasters in Vynam. When her search for her sister unearths dangerous knowledge, she alone holds the power to destroy the precarious peace of the noble houses, and shake all of Vynam to its very core. But the cost might be her sister's life.

Complete! Raizia has already died twice and she's not planning on dying again anytime soon. The 20-year-old necromancer makes ends meet by offering her resurrection services to a select few for an exorbitant fee. There's just one condition: she will only resurrect souls who have died within the past three days, and only for five minutes so they can share final goodbyes with their loved ones. But then she meets Aris, an attractive soldier reeling from the recent death of his mother. Raizia agrees to resurrect her, but when Aris ignores her cardinal rule, all hell breaks loose. As punishment for his deed, Raizia binds the soldier into her service. But Aris isn't going to come quietly... Fantasy ~ Romance ~ Adventure ~ Novella - - - Written for the 2021 Open Novella Contest, based on prompt #66: When you die, you come back. But you never come back the same. There's always a price to pay for resurrection... Open Novella Contest 2021 Round One Ambassador Pick and Short Lister Completed! Image by Rav89 on Deviantart.