The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel.

Ive spent my life kneelingto their will and to my father’s. As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king.

I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood.

But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my fathers throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life.

Now Im crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as much as I despise himbound to a future I didnt choose and a husband I barely know.

Everyone wants me to be something Im nota queen, a spy, a sacrifice.

But what if I refused the role chosen for me? What if I made my own rules? What if theres power in being underestimated?

And what iffor the first timeI reached for it?