Lyla's life is planned. In a few months, she'll be leaving her stifling small village and the vicious rumors that have marked her as unsuitable to be anyone's wife, for the endless opportunities of the large port city of Balast. There she will finish her training as a magical healer, join an adventuring team, and see the world beyond the mountainous valleys of the High Passes that she's lived in her whole life.

Then a tragedy strikes.

Lyla doesn't know the secret that the soldier who saved her life is keeping from her. Worse yet, she doesn't know that he accidentally bound himself to her when he saved her life and that without her he will slowly lose his mind. What she does know is that her parents, the village elders, and even her best friend, are falling all over themselves to marry her off to this nearly perfect stranger with far too many muscles for her to take him seriously.

Can she escape this unexpected marriage that is messing up her plans for greatness? Will she even want to? Or will this be exactly the kind of adventure she was hoping for all along?





Do you love reading about the Mages of the Empire of Man?  Try my book "Lines of Inheritance" The first of a series about the conflict between the Empire of Man, The Matriarchy, And The Priestess Isles.

Or check out my web series "Inheritance" and read about the political intrigue within The Matriarchy and the uneasy truce they have with the Orc Horde.

Empire of Man - Book 1: The First Empress

“First things first.” Wroth jerked himself out of the maudlin dread he’d been about to fall into. He was realizing rather quickly that he’d brought an imperial prince into a very dangerous situation that they did not know nearly enough about, and he needed backup. “We need backup. There are not nearly enough of us to combat a force that took out an entire caravan.” 


Lan was clearly about to protest, Wroth knew, that they had more than enough Mages to combat any smaller raiding force when Lindowyth elbowed him hard. The young soldier grunted in pain. But the action worked. He glared at Lindy who smirked back at him with a ‘shut up stupid’ expression on her face. 


Chapter 29 - The Beginnings of a Plan