TheOtherNoble

“You are the least objectionable groom of all the ones I’ve seen,” Anaisa replied seriously. “Thank you for the glowing compliment,” Trace grinned, “but that didn’t quite answer my question.” ___ Anaisa is an orphan and a pariah. In an ultimate act of betrayal, her father, a Count of the Realm, is accused of deserting and betraying the army in a time of war. Not only is he immediately executed for the offense, but the king declares he must have been a fake all along! His two daughters are stripped of their titles and inheritance, replaced by a distant cousin and cast out of their home with nothing. Anaisa swears someday she will get her title and lands back, but in the mean time, she and her sister Katia have to figure out how to survive. Trace is an anomaly among his people; instead of revealing their son as a magic user and thrusting him into the public eye, his parents kept it a secret to allow him to choose the kind of life he wanted. Trace found himself content to rest and play in his own dream world instead of invading the nighttime visions of others. As an adult, his choice to remain unknown is thrown into jeopardy when a mysterious blackmailer forces Trace to enlist in the territorial war between nations, threatening to reveal his secret if the demand is not met. With the war now over, Trace believes he can finally go home to his farm and live the simple, unremarkable life he’s always desired. When Anaisa and Trace are thrown together by a royal edict, the sisters find themselves unwittingly tangled in the web of mystery and intrigue that surrounds the blackmailer’s escalating assignments for Trace. Anaisa begins to suspect it may be connected to the plot to replace her family in the noble court. As the scheme continues to unfold, lives, loves, marriages, and magic will be put to the test to see what forces in the world are strongest.

Serafina, or "Finn," is a 17-year-old girl from a small village who doesn't always have the self preservation instinct one might desire. Rushing headlong into danger, she finds herself drawn into a treacherous whirlpool of circumstances and intrigue far beyond her illusions of control. As she leaves her village on a journey that will change her life forever, she’s joined by her neighbor Mayra and Mayra’s quick-witted and charmingly irritating brother Riley, whose kindness and admiration for Finn begins to show through his teasing banter. Roland, an orphaned doctor's apprentice, is on his own quest to help save the lives of his city’s people. Coming across the three villagers on the road, he is enchanted by Finn’s beauty but finds a wall around her heart. These four join forces in an effort to help the people they love, conquer their own pasts, and survive the onslaught of romance, magic, strife, loss, and war. As these young adventurers are bound together and torn apart by the circumstances around them, they will begin to learn just how different the world is than they had always thought. Their battle against the darkness, both external and internal, could define the future of their nations. *Book is completed and fully published, I hope you enjoy!*