Kuraeh
"They called her a pawn. She will make herself a queen."
Banished since birth, Tres of Draherne grew up in exile, hidden away in a cottage with her Aunt. When the crown finally summons her home, she dares to hope her parents have changed-that at last she is wanted.
But their embrace is a mask. Their smiles, a lie. Tres has not been reclaimed as a daughter-she has been sold as a bride.
Her groom is King Vityior of Hargesia, a man feared across kingdoms as the Blood Butcher. They say his power can shatter armies with a gesture. They say his brides never survive the week.
To Draherne, she is salvation. To her parents, she is a pawn. To herself, she is already condemned.
Yet in the shadows of dread, Tres finds something unexpected in her monstrous husband: not cruelty, but scars as deep as her own. And as war looms on every horizon, the girl once forgotten must choose-bow to the fate that would see her broken, or claim her power, her heart, and perhaps even her throne.