[Stolen Starlight] Chapter One: Petitions and Proposals

A Scions and Shadows Novella

[Note: This is a work in progress at this time. Changes and edits may happen in the future. This is set several years before the events of Stars and Soil and follows many characters who play large roles in that novel. There will be some spice in this novella. This is for newsletter members and Dax Dreaming subscribers. I have no official update schedule for this. They will be posted as I write them. If you are a member, you can enter the email address that you used to subscribe and a magic link will be sent to that email, logging you in.]

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Eleanor Fola of Fayn wants to be a powerful and generous queen. She has no need for love—she sees the problems it causes her mother. While her older brother has been given leave to select the woman he deems most appropriate to rule Fayn beside him, Eleanor merely wants a prince or princess destined to inherit a throne. When the heir presumptive to the Tsvetokrasan crown comes to court her, she determines that he's idolent and selfish enough that she can manipulate him into letting her do the majority of the ruling. However, in the midst of investigating a string of murders, raids, and riots, Eleanor meets Astreia. She's a daughter of a Qaewi merchant, but she ignites a new passion in Eleanor's heart. Court intrigue and political machinations fade away when in the presence of this lively lady. Astraeia isn't telling the whole truth, though. And when those secrets are finally revealed, Astreia's life is endangered and ancient schemes are brought to light. Schemes that could end the Fola dynasty, too. A crown or a lover; power or an equal—Eleanor has to figure out which one she can't live without before both are lost to her and dark forces steal the throne.