Her wedding cord was forged from the dragon's own chains. She was never the price of the peace — she was the paperwork.
On the morning of her twenty-third birthday, Verity Colwyn is married to Corvath Draeven, the fae march-lord her kingdom's treaty binds her to, in a hall full of people who genuinely believe her father's peace cost nothing at all. She expects to spend her wedding night grieving a life she didn't choose.Instead she spends it listening to a sound coming up through the floor of her husband's house that no one else can hear — something old, and chained, and still, impossibly, waiting for someone to finally ask if it wants to stay.
Corvath Draeven has held his family's grim inheritance for eight lonely years: a chained dragon beneath his own hold, kept as "surety" for a peace he was never allowed to question. A geas binds him to answer any true question about the treaty honestly — he simply can't offer the truth first. Eight years, and no one has ever asked him the right one. Until his new wife does.
What they uncover together is not an old grim tradition. It's a twenty-year fraud, forged in a father's own hand, and a dragon who has been counting every year since the only person with the standing to free her stopped being allowed to ask.
Perfect for readers who love arranged-marriage romance, morally-grey fae lords, and a dragon who is a person, not a prize.
- 🐉 Arranged-marriage romance with a devastating twist — the wedding was never the sacrifice
🔥 A fae lord bound by a geas: he can answer any truth, but never offer it first
⚖️ Blood-and-fire treaty magic where a forged signature carries a real, catastrophic price
🗝️ A father's twenty-year cover-up hiding behind a beloved peace
💍 Standalone romantasy with a full, satisfying HEA
Full-length romantasy (55,000+ words). Standalone love story with a satisfying HEA. Intended for readers 18+.
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Used availability for Sasha Leone's Emberwed