Ava Reid

Stories don't have to be true to be real... In her forest-veiled pagan village, Evike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king's blood sacrifice, Evike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered. But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Evike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he's no ordinary Woodsman - he's the disgraced prince, Gaspar Barany, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gaspar fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gaspar understands what it's like to be an outcast, and he and Evike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother. As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Evike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gaspar need to decide whose side they're on, and what they're willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

A spirited outcast. A disgraced prince. A world where monsters roam free. In her forest-veiled pagan village, Evike is the only woman without power. So when soldiers from the Holy Order of Woodsmen arrive to claim a girl for their king's blood sacrifice, the villagers only have one person to offer up. But when they are attacked en-route to the capital, and everyone but Evike and a lone Woodsman are slaughtered, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he's no ordinary Woodsman - he's the disgraced prince, Gaspar Barany, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. As they travel from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, they form a tenuous pact that slowly turns their loathing turns to affection. But trust is easily betrayed, and as Evike discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gaspar must decide where their loyalties really lie...

Stories don't have to be true to be real... In her forest-veiled pagan village, Evike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king's blood sacrifice, Evike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered. But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Evike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he's no ordinary Woodsman - he's the disgraced prince, Gaspar Barany, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gaspar fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gaspar understands what it's like to be an outcast, and he and Evike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother. As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Evike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gaspar need to decide whose side they're on, and what they're willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

Effy-t, az építészhallgatót sok mindennek nevezték már: hazugnak, cédának, problémás fiatal nőnek, de ő mindenekelőtt túlélő. Amikor megpillant egy pályázati hirdetést kedvenc írója, Emyrs Myrddin családi birtokának megtervezésére, biztos benne, hogy ez a végzete. A férfi leghíresebb művének, az Angharadnak – ami egy lányról szól, aki beleszeret a Tündérkirályba –, szakadt, szamárfüles példánya állandóan Effy éjjeliszekrényén hever. Míg mások kitalációként olvassák a történeteit, a lány tud valamit, amit ők nem: a Tündérkirály valóságos. Amikor Effy megérkezik a Hiraeth Kúriába, egy süllyedő házba az éhező tenger szélén, találkozik egy földhözragadt, fiatal akadémikussal, Preston-nal, aki azzal a szándékkal érkezett, hogy bebizonyítsa, a lány kedvenc írója csaló volt. Preston a tanulmányainak szentelte az életét, nem hisz a végzetben vagy a mágiában. Azonnal versengeni kezdenek; a levelek, könyvek és naplóbejegyzések alapján rakosgatják össze a nyomokat, de sötét erők, mind halandó, mind mágikus egyaránt összeesküvést szőnek ellenük, és az igazság mindkettőjüket a vesztükbe sodorhatja.

If the monsters are real, so are the women who defeat them. Effy has always believed in fairy tales. She's had no choice. Since childhood, she's been haunted by visions of the Fairy King. She's found solace only in the pages of Angharad - a beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, and then destroys him. Effy's tattered copy is all that's keeping her afloat through her stifling first term her prestigious architecture college. So when the late author's family announces a contest to design his house, Effy fells certain this is her destiny. But Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task: a musty, decrepit estate on the brink of crumbling into a hungry sea. And when Effy arrives, she finds she isn't the only one who's made a temporary home there. Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, is studying Myrddin's papers and is determined to prove her favourite author is a fraud. As the two rival students investigate the reclusive author's legacy, piecing together clues through his letters, books, and diaries, they discover that the house's foundation isn't the only thing that can't be trusted. There are dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspiring against them - and the truth may bring them both to ruin.

Effy-t, az építészhallgatót sok mindennek nevezték már: hazugnak, cédának, problémás fiatal nőnek, de ő mindenekelőtt túlélő. Amikor megpillant egy pályázati hirdetést kedvenc írója, Emyrs Myrddin családi birtokának megtervezésére, biztos benne, hogy ez a végzete. A férfi leghíresebb művének, az Angharadnak - ami egy lányról szól, aki beleszeret a Tündérkirályba -, szakadt, szamárfüles példánya állandóan Effy éjjeliszekrényén hever. Míg mások kitalációként olvassák a történeteit, a lány tud valamit, amit ők nem: a Tündérkirály valóságos. Amikor Effy megérkezik a Hiraeth Kúriába, egy süllyedő házba az éhező tenger szélén, találkozik egy földhözragadt, fiatal akadémikussal, Preston-nal, aki azzal a szándékkal érkezett, hogy bebizonyítsa, a lány kedvenc írója csaló volt. Preston a tanulmányainak szentelte az életét, nem hisz a végzetben vagy a mágiában. Azonnal versengeni kezdenek; a levelek, könyvek és naplóbejegyzések alapján rakosgatják össze a nyomokat, de sötét erők, mind halandó, mind mágikus egyaránt összeesküvést szőnek ellenük, és az igazság mindkettőjüket a vesztükbe sodorhatja.