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

"My father was a terrible man, but there's no way he committed the treason you accused him of," Anaisa knew that it was possibly only seconds before the guards were ordered to come drag her away and throw her into the dungeon to await the executioner, so she saw no harm in airing all her grievances now.

At least no one here knew she was Trace's wife. Her death would free him to marry someone better. He deserved much more than her wretched reputation would bring him. A nice farm girl who could live the simple life he really wanted.

Tears of rage filled Anaisa's eyes and she swiped them away.

"My father's horrible cousin, Barnabas, who took his place, must have framed him. I know it in my soul!" She cried. "You surround yourself with snakes and expect to run a country well, but there's nothing but war and mistreatment. Death and depravity for young women with nowhere else to go. Servanthood or the brothel were just about the only choices open for me!"

A father's lies