TheOtherNoble

“You are the least objectionable groom of all the ones I’ve seen,” Anaisa replied seriously. 

“Thank you for the glowing compliment,” Trace grinned, “but that didn’t quite answer my question.” 
___

Anaisa is an orphan and a pariah. In an ultimate act of betrayal, her father, a Count of the Realm, is accused of deserting and betraying the army in a time of war. Not only is he immediately executed for the offense, but the king declares he must have been a fake all along! His two daughters are stripped of their titles and inheritance, replaced by a distant cousin and cast out of their home with nothing. Anaisa swears someday she will get her title and lands back, but in the mean time, she and her sister Katia have to figure out how to survive. 

Trace is an anomaly among his people; instead of revealing their son as a magic user and thrusting him into the public eye, his parents kept it a secret to allow him to choose the kind of life he wanted. Trace found himself content to rest and play in his own dream world instead of invading the nighttime visions of others.

As an adult, his choice to remain unknown is thrown into jeopardy when a mysterious blackmailer forces Trace to enlist in the territorial war between nations, threatening to reveal his secret if the demand is not met. With the war now over, Trace believes he can finally go home to his farm and live the simple, unremarkable life he’s always desired. 

When Anaisa and Trace are thrown together by a royal edict, the sisters find themselves unwittingly tangled in the web of mystery and intrigue that surrounds the blackmailer’s escalating assignments for Trace. Anaisa begins to suspect it may be connected to the plot to replace her family in the noble court. As the scheme continues to unfold, lives, loves, marriages, and magic will be put to the test to see what forces in the world are strongest.

Dreamwalker's Bride

Anaisa froze. The king wanted to know who her parents were, and she had to quickly make a decision about whether to directly lie to him, or tell him the truth and deal with the fallout. Neither seemed a good option at this point.

"....both my parents are dead," She whispered as tears began to fill her eyes.

The king's face softened at her show of grief, not knowing that they weren't tears of sadness.

They were tears of rage at Barnabas, and at her own father, for putting her in the position of introducing herself to the king of their nation as a servant instead of a noble. This was not her place. She should be standing here in finery with head held high, not terrified that she would be found out and executed.

Her resolve to take down her traitorous cousin intensified as she tried not to cower.

"Were your parents from Foundrel?" The King glanced to one side.

Choose wisely