Chapter One

Willa had no desire to become a queen or any kind of royalty and certainly not anyone’s wife at eighteen. Still, despite her best efforts to avoid the crown, the new king selected her, a peasant woman with no dowry, to become his latest bride. Willa had no choice but to accept her role or face lifelong imprisonment.

Many years before the royal proposal, a former self-proclaimed king, Corwin, a mighty Kastelian being, used mind control to force humans to serve him and surrender anything he desired, including half of Willa’s family’s crops. This oppression continued until his eldest son, Cole, slew him with a sword when he learned that his father had killed his mother after Cole’s birth. Corwin claimed he murdered her out of love, to spare his wife from the inevitable torture awaiting her if his father discovered that his son had married a human.

Shortly after his death, his adopted human son, Pierce, assembled a legion of men to annihilate all surviving beings who carried the blood of either Kastelians or Terstans, a peaceful people with similar telepathic powers. The former prince divided each land within a seven-day ride of his slain father’s home into a separate kingdom, assigning each a young, inexperienced human ruler who had to lead under his command. During this time, Pierce remained hidden from his brothers, Cole and Garrett, who searched for him and the magical items he had stolen, giving specific orders not to kill Pierce.

The newly appointed king, a nineteen-year-old named Destin, went through two brides in thirteen days, each found poisoned in her home the night before her wedding. Naturally, no sensible woman held any interest in the crown. However, soon after the second death, King Destin received orders from Pierce demanding that he choose another queen, a third bride, to rule at his side with haste. This news spread like wildfire across the meadow, striking panic in every eligible human female of childbearing age as they realized the king had to find a replacement within the week. His tall, muscular physique, dark hair, and deep-set blue eyes did not distract the young women from their fear of becoming his third dead bride.

Although the king’s last two choices had light blond hair, Willa took no chances and wore her long dark tresses piled up on top of her head, hidden beneath her father’s brown hat, tattered, sun-bleached, and patched from years of wear. She did everything to blend in with the other men who worked in the village, even dressing like them to remain out of sight.

On the last day of the week, the king’s guards went door to door demanding that every unmarried maiden of childbearing age follow them to the castle’s ballroom to be interviewed by the king. Willa slipped out behind her family’s stables and hid beneath a pile of hay. She kept her breath long and slow, waiting for them to pass on to the next home.

When the voices of the guards and the horses galloping silenced, Willa peeked out.

A lone guard sitting on his black stallion behind an apple tree spotted her, mistaking Willa for a man. “Any maidens with you?”

She deepened her voice to mimic a more masculine tone and shook her head. “No. It’s just me.”

“Very well.” He nodded and continued on his way.

Willa sighed with relief.

A sharp cold gust of wind came from nowhere and blew her hat away and up into the air. Her heart raced as she hurried to retrieve it, but as she ran, the ties holding Willa’s hair came loose, revealing her flowing tresses.

“Oh, no,” she mumbled.