Shadows over Lysford

{BOOK 1}

Aldric has spent his entire life surviving in a small, nameless village-an insignificant speck in Lysford that no one truly notices. Hard work, sacrifice, and sheer determination have kept him and his family afloat.

But one day, even that is no longer enough.
The hunger becomes unbearable, and for the first time, Aldric is forced to watch his family begin to break under its weight.

Driven by desperation, he makes a choice that could cost him everything.
He seeks out the one man people only speak of in hushed whispers-the man said to offer solutions... if one is willing to pay the price.

What first sounds like a simple bargain-Aldric's life in exchange for his family's safety-reveals itself far too quickly as something far more cruel.
Because behind the contracts lies more than mere agreement.

And an interest that reaches far beyond anything Aldric could have anticipated.

Trapped in a game whose rules he does not understand, Aldric soon realizes that he has bound himself to something that could not only break him-but consume him-if he fails to grasp the truth in time.

And yet, it is not only darkness that threatens him.
Because fear begins to turn into something else.
Something dangerously close to desire.

What began as a sacrifice becomes a cruel game of power, dependence, and longing.

And Aldric could have never imagined
that the very man who might destroy him...

would be the one he falls for.