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 balked at the extreme lengths everyone was going to for the sake of her appearance. Some sort of mud was plastered on her skin, fancy oils massaged into her hair, all followed by a rose-scented bath.

That, at least, she did enjoy, but it was far shorter than she wanted it to be.

Why make such a lovely, hot, wonderful smelling bath if no one was going to linger in its luxurious waters? It was a terrible shame.

"No one's fed me today," She whined to Trace when he briefly appeared between the comings and goings of various beauty professionals. Her nails were painted. Fine jewelry was brought from the treasury to match her gown for the evening. Her feet were massaged and then bound in strips of fabric to ensure they would fit into the delicate shoes that would be brought up later.

Could the palace not afford to buy shoes that actually fit well, or were tiny feet such an important marker of beauty that they thought this was necessary?

Makeover montage!