BookishCornerWrites
His kingdom under siege, young Aelvar Byern, King of the island Nivelle, struggles under the weight of his leadership, the death of his father and brother, and the bloodthirsty pirates now surrounding his home. Help from the mainland may not come, and it's up to Aelvar to preserve his father's legacy and his people. The royal family for nearly a millennia have held Nivelle. It won't fall now. Least of all to the pirates. Not on Aelvar's watch.
Aine, illegitimate daughter of noble man and Nivellian General James Vandermeer, has been locked away in the palace dungeons for nearly a year, imprisoned during the previous king's reign, accused of witchcraft. Forgotten by the kingdom, Aine longs to see the sun again, clouded with visions of a temple priestess, her arm branded with the mark of the Maiden Fate. Everything changes when the king visits her far below the palace, offering her freedom in exchange for her help.
Daniel, slave to the noble Nivellian house of Vandermeer, has never known his parents, the only mark of his past a strange tattoo on his right arm, not too different from the mark of the pirates. If he's not careful, if any one ever gives his arm a second glance, he might very well be brought to the Nivellian authorities for execution, for involvement with the very enemy sieging their kingdom.
A king born from the shadow of his father, a young woman imprisoned for a murder she doesn't know if she committed, and a slave with a mysterious heritage, learn there may be more to Nivelle's fate than they thought.