The Shrouded
Calene, Princess of Blackstone, lives a sheltered life at the palace, unable to go outside as she pleases for fear of the king’s enemies. Her only form of release is the highly-taboo Old Lore: the stories of when man and dragon were allies. Nowadays those stories are forgotten, lost to the flow of time, the dragons thought to be driven to extinction—until one shows up and kidnaps her brother Terran, the heir to the throne. Calene, frantic to save her brother, disguises herself and escapes from the palace, seeking the aid of the wise dragons she’d heard in the stories. Instead she finds Vear, a sullen, mean-tempered dragon. Bitter and stubborn, he forces her to contract with him: he will help her find her brother but she must serve him until he decides to free her. Desperate for help, she agrees, though his temper and ferocity frighten her. Along with Fayn—a dragoness and Vear’s tutor—and Kieran—a young man who wishes to serve in Blackstone’s Royal Guard—they go to where Terran has been kidnapped: the desert palace of Vrandor.…