LOGINMILAOur baby boy, Samuel, was born in April, a few days after Felix’s 31st birthday. He was named for the first King of Fresonia and to commemorate the love that had brought his parents together. As the future King of Fresonia, he had an official naming ceremony in front of the entire kingdom, and
CHARLESLife in exile was surprisingly calm.Despite our conversation before being sent to this remote island, I’d had a harder time adjusting to a relationship with Isabella than I once thought. Perhaps it was the sadness I felt at being away from my home kingdom, or maybe I did not like the vulner
FELIXWhen I was growing up, I never imagined that I would enjoy being King.The whole thing looked dreadfully boring to a young boy. Although I knew I was the heir to the throne and would someday take over for my father, I always had far more interest in hanging out with Ignatius and running around
MILAThe last few weeks had been a blur. Meetings, ribbon cuttings, speeches. I spent countless hours in the countryside of Fresonia helping to relocate people who had been displaced by either the war or the dissolution with Abernathy. I cooked meals for homeless shelters and taught magic to young c
FELIXThe King of Abernathy had been placed in a highly-protected magical prison deep in the Dragon’s Teeth mountains, locked away with no hope of escape. His advisors and various family members were locked away with him, all facing sentences for their crimes against magic.The leaders from the othe
FELIXThe King was clearly shocked by my challenge. He slowly put down his wine glass, his eyes darting between me and Mila. I could tell that the idea intrigued him, as much as he wanted to seem disgusted by the offer.The curse might have been broken, but I could still feel the panic and tension s
I sometimes dreamed of looking down at my own hands and seeing swirling tattoos printed there, like the ones on Esmeralda’s hands. But that was impossible–those sorts of tattoos were only imprinted by magic.After awakening one morning after another such dream, I decided to ask Esmeralda. I made my
CHARLESIt took all of my willpower to leave the Library of Magic. I could have spent hours in the shelves and aisles, poring over all the ancient tomes and learning about the history of magic. Perhaps somewhere in those dark passageways was the final piece of the puzzle, some sort of weapon I could
MILAI was once again left behind.After Felix and the armies left for the border, I went back up to our bed. My hope was to get a nap in, but I mostly just ended up sobbing. I had just sent my husband away to war–and I had no idea when or if he would even be returning.My world felt like it was cra
MILAIn the aftermath of Felix’s confession, I still felt some lingering confusion and anger. I thought our marriage would fix everything, but apparently… it did not.Felix reluctantly agreed to meet with the royal doctors and discuss treatment plans, or, at the very least, methods of physical thera







