The fairytale formula is simple-it takes a hero, one that's brave and cunning, a magical assistant to aid them, a worthy adversary, and on the other side of fall and triumph they reach the happy-ever-after. Dinah, being a philology graduate, is a master of fairytales. She's read them all cover to cover, and she's lived through enough of them, from boarding school to boarding school, to recognise a plot when she hears one.
So, who'd make a better consultant when a dragon, the maiden-stealing kind, is spotted in the skies of Alps? For a dragon is never slain by might. One must be outwitted, its weakness-exposed, its secrets-discovered, and its story-learned. In company of her mechanical knight, Servantes, she takes the dirigible from Paris to the enchanted skyscrapers of Silen, knowing that beyond that dragon, if she's cunning and brave, awaits her own Fate.
The year is 1914. The month is May.
Tags: adventure, alternatehistory, aristocracy, automaton, darkacademia, dragons, edwardian, empire, europe, fairytale, fantasy, femaleprotagonist, friendship, historicalfiction, history, magic, magicalrealism, mystery, newadult, original, prince, revolution, steampunk, victorian
Cassandra never believed in magic-until she woke up with wings.
One moment, she's living her ordinary life in London. The next, she's stranded in a mysterious, ancient realm brimming with danger and beauty beyond imagination. As she grapples with her new reality, one thing becomes clear: there's no way home.
Trapped in a world where myths are real and every corner holds a secret, Cassandra discovers she has powers tied to this land-powers she never knew existed. And she's not the only one interested in them. A brooding stranger with dark, haunting eyes seems to know more about her fate than he lets on, and as danger mounts, their connection deepens in ways neither can deny.
Now, Cassandra must choose: fight to return to her old life or embrace the magic of this new world-and the powerful destiny waiting for her. But in a realm where nothing is as it seems, the greatest threat may be the one lurking deep within herself.
Welcome to a world of forbidden power, treacherous secrets, and a fate that could change everything.