"A fantastical cross between the Beauty and the Beast and ACOTAR."
A prince, a witch, and a wolf are tied together by the sins of their parents. Can they break free of the secrets that bind them, or will the Kingdom of Eidas forever be under a terri...
The first day she helped her mother with her shop, Dal swept the floor and arranged little silver bags of skill stones. It is believed that a bewitched skill stone kept in the pocket of someone who needs the skill, would be uncharacteristically accomplished for a single task. She had taken such pride in handling the prized merchandise.
On the first day of her apprenticeship with the Magistrar, she had cleaned soot for so long she wondered if it would ever come out of her dress, but she remembered looking upon the study with such secret fascination. As annoyed as she had been to be doing such a ridiculous task, there was a deeper part to Dal that was appreciative for the opportunity to be in the study at all.
Today, Dal was not sure what she expected, but when Adonis handed her a horse's reins, wearing a smirk on his face, to say that she was confused was an understatement.
"What is this for?"
"To guide a horse, of course," Adonis teased. The brown mare, of whose reins she'd just been handed, nickered beside her.
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Adonis motioned for her to follow him, and Dal supposed it was all she could do but follow. The hound keeper led a dark grey speckled horse by the reins beside him.
It seemed they were meant to go for a ride.
"Don't we have to care for the hounds?" She called out in front of her.
"They've been taken care of this morning."
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see."
"Do all you fancy half-blood nobles agree to speak in code, so that no one else can ever tell what it is you are all on about?"
Adonis slowed his walk, so that she and her mare walked alongside him. He studied her with a bemused expression, the corners of his mouth upturned and the light in his eyes dancing at her expense.
She smiled despite herself.
"You're the first in a long time to call us half-bloods, you know," Adonis said, changing the subject.
"Well, that's what you are, aren't you?"
"Sort of," Adonis shrugged, "there hasn't been a true half-blood in anyone's lineage for quite some time. I think the last that had that pure of blood would have been the Prince's great great grandmother."
"The Bloodstained Queen-" she replied without thinking, "- Sorry, that was rude of me. If I'm not careful I'm going to be hanged, despite all of your bartering."
"Don't be sorry," Adonis chuckled, "by all accounts you are correct. She was a ruthless matriarch, responsible for the deaths of thousands of magical peoples, despite her own blood."
Dal was surprised to hear a nobleman speak of the previous genocide so plainly. She hadn't expected that reaction from the same man who was considered the close confidant of the King.
