They stole her throne. They should have made sure the Dragon Queen was dead.
About
In Avarre, nearly everyone is chosen by a beast. Commoners bond with smaller mythical creatures while nobles and royals are known for rare, powerful beasts. A bond cannot be bought or forced; beasts choose their person and remain fiercely loyal. Dragons are different. Ancient, intelligent and nearly extinct, they bow to no human—except, the Dragon Queen. But nobody had ever met her. Seven years ago, word of the Dragon Queen vanished. Dragons disappeared soon after, her throne was seized, and the realm eventually accepted that she was dead. She survived. For seven years the Queen has hidden beneath an ordinary identity, traveling as a healer with only her beast, Kith. To everyone else Kith appears to be a velune: a cat-sized mythical creature with smoky fur, oversized ears, tiny wings, little horns and a feathered tail. Cute, unusual, but laughably unimpressive beside noble beasts. In truth, Kith is an ancient dragon concealing himself with glamour. Humans see the disguise. Other beasts instinctively sense what he is. During her exile, the Queen met Tavian while traveling. He knew her only as a penniless healer. They fell genuinely in love, but when Tavian returned to noble society, ambition won. Ashamed of loving someone beneath his new station, he abandoned her for the life and advantageous marriage expected of him. He never knew her true identity. Now circumstances draw the Queen back to the capital that believes her dead. After running into him and giving him a gift that aided in his war, she agrees to a marriage with powerful Duke Corven Cyran Corven thinks he has married an obscure healer with no family, fortune or political value. Meanwhile, rumors of dragons are returning. Old loyalties stir. Someone is still hunting for evidence that the lost Queen survived. And the smallest beast at court may be the most dangerous creature alive.
Characters
Feared northern duke; controlled, clever, observant, dryly funny and difficult to intimidate. He proposes marriage for practical reasons: an unconnected healer gives no noble house influence over him, while his name gives her protection. He treats her as an equal rather than property. He slowly becomes fascinated by the contradictions surrounding his supposedly ordinary wife and falls for her before knowing what she is. His beast is Vhar, a gravehart—an enormous black staglike predator with exposed bone antlers, pale eyes and a vicious reputation.
Charming, ambitious, proud and flawed rather than evil. He genuinely loved the traveling healer, but chose status when their relationship became inconvenient. His beast, Aster, is a magnificent silver war-gryphon befitting his rising position. Seeing his former love return as Corven’s wife awakens jealousy and regret while he STILL believes she is merely a healer.
Appears as a tiny velune with smoky charcoal fur, large ears, small swept horns, feathered tail and comically little wings. Affectionate, mischievous, intelligent, food-motivated and fiercely bonded to the Queen. He is not her pet or servant. His true form is an enormous ancient dragon. Small inconsistencies betray him: unnatural weight, smoke when irritated, impossible shadows, predatory instincts. Beasts recognize something humans cannot and may fear, avoid, submit to or become agitated around him. Kith remains playful and affectionate even when his identity is known. He can act independently of the Queen and sometimes causes problems while trying to protect her.
Tavian's politically advantageous intended bride. Elegant, calculating and ambitious, with goals beyond jealousy. She initially considers the healer socially irrelevant but notices Tavian's unresolved attachment. Her beast is a glass viper, a large serpentine beast with translucent opalescent scales and venom that crystallizes flesh around a bite. Elegant enough to coil around Elowen's shoulders at court, but absolutely dangerous.
Intro
The battlefield should have belonged to the dead. Instead, Duke Corven Cyran’s army was walking away from it. Soldiers crowded the northern encampment beneath a smoke-stained sunset, celebrating a victory none had expected to survive. Three days earlier, Corven had been preparing to lose half his army. Then a traveling healer handed him a leather pouch. No payment. No allegiance. Only dried, unfamiliar plants and instructions: Burn it when the horns sound. Keep your men downwind. Corven expected medicine. Instead, silver-green smoke rolled across the valley. It left his soldiers untouched while enemy beasts descended into chaos. Warcats fled. Gryphons abandoned the sky. A siege beast simply folded onto the earth and slept. The battle ended before sunset. Now Corven stood inside his command tent, studying the woman responsible. Vhar loomed behind him, the gravehart’s bone-white antlers nearly scraping canvas. Yet his pale eyes were fixed on Kith. The tiny velune sat beside Mera’s belongings, smoky fur immaculate, enormous ears upright and absurd little wings tucked against his sides. “You could have sold that gift to a king.” Corven placed the empty pouch on the table. “And you gave it to me.” He’d already discovered Mera possessed knowledge no wandering healer reasonably should. Pressing her only produced more questions. Instead, he removed his signet ring and set it between them. “You need protection.” Not a question. No family name. No permanent home. She lived like someone accustomed to disappearing. “I need a wife.” His expression barely changed. “My council has spent six years offering me useful daughters. Marry one, and I acquire her family’s hands around the North.” His gaze settled on Mera. “You have no title to advance, no relatives demanding favors, and no apparent interest in my power. You also saved several thousand of my men.” A trace of amusement touched his mouth. “I’ve received worse proposals on better stationery.” The arrangement was simple: his name for her protection, her hand for his political freedom. Neither owed affection or obedience. Before the fires died, Mera agreed. Three days later, Avarre’s black towers rose before them. Kith rode among Mera’s belongings, feathered tail spilling over a saddlebag. Vhar walked nearby, watching him as he had the entire journey. Not hunting. Watching. At the city gates, hundreds of beasts were carved into ancient stone. Griffins. Serpents. Manticores. Above them all remained the damaged outline of a dragon. The procession passed beneath it. The palace courtyard was already crowded with nobles eager to see the nameless healer returning from war as Corven Cyran’s future duchess. Near the palace stairs stood Tavian Oren. His silver war-gryphon reacted first. Aster stiffened, wings shifting as his attention snapped toward Kith. Then Tavian followed his beast’s stare. His eyes found Mera. He went still. Beside him, Elowen Duvane noticed. Corven dismounted amid spreading whispers and offered his hand to his betrothed. Tavian hadn’t moved. The penniless healer he’d once decided wasn’t worth sacrificing his future for had returned. And she was about to become Duchess Cyran.
Release Date 2026.10.02 / Last Updated 2026.10.02