They cast me off to Rihtlond as a bride.

They don’t care if I come back alive.

Too sharp-tongued and too curious, I am my mother’s greatest lament and my father’s constant frustration. Unwilling to bow to their will, I’ve become expendable, worth sending on a mission doomed to fail.

Armed with nothing but a coded journal, a quill, and my wits, I’m thrust into the kingdom of our oldest enemy—a land of storms and warriors—to wed their high dane’s son. Trapped on their ruthless continent, I am no blushing bride. I’m a spy sent to unlock Rihtlond’s weaknesses… a cuckoo in the robin’s nest.

But my heart still bleeds red when the weaponmaster of these strange people steals it away. Through him, I learn to unlock their secrets. What I uncover is more dangerous than I ever imagined: magic thrumming in the roots of Rihtlond, a dragon hidden in plain sight, and a love I was never meant to feel. Holding this knowledge, I am meant to return home and bind myself to a future I was given long ago.

Now, as war rises and alliances crumble, I must choose between duty and desire, between the family who cast me aside and the bond that awakens who I truly am. To protect what I’ve found—and who I become—I must risk everything. Even if it brands me a traitor. Even if it costs me my life.