48 parts Complete MatureBook Two of the "Fate of Duro Series"
There had been no hope for Duro. Those left after the war were destined to destroy themselves, driven by greed and desperation, pushing the once-proud men of Duro toward extinction.
But then there was a new hope, a spark of life for the future.
Promised to her clan's future leader, Larken, long before she even reached womanhood, Asara was chosen to be the vessel of the future-a role decided for her before she ever had a say.
As a child, she didn't understand the weight of that promise.
As a teenager, she was filled with rage, longing for the freedom other girls had to flirt and laugh with boys their own age.
Now, on the cusp of adulthood, Asara feels trapped in an impossible future. She has spent years keeping Larken at a distance, wanting nothing to do with the man she's been bound to her entire life. Though Larken has always respected her wishes, the unspoken weight of their arranged future looms.
But Asara's insecurities run deeper than just the arrangement. In her heart, she fears she will never truly be seen as a wife in Larken's eyes, only as the vessel for his heirs-the subject of duty and tradition, never a partner in love. Despite his kindness and patience, she doubts she could ever be more than a symbol of obligation to him, a person bound to him by the expectations of others, not by choice.
Asara knows her fate is inevitable, but what she craves is something beyond the arrangement: she wants to be loved for who she is, not for what she represents to the clan. She fears that, even if Larken takes her as his wife, she will always be a means to an end-a subject, not a beloved.
Asara knows that time is running out. Sooner or later, her secret will be exposed, and the distance she has fought to maintain between herself and Larken will disappear. When that day comes, will Larken see her as anything more than a tool of the clan's future? Will she ever be more than just a means to an end?
