Lady of The Lake

The Dream Stalker needs a wife before dawn

Nia returns to Castle Perillos from a secret battlefield mission—days spent leaking Talan's invasion plan to save the British army—to find the prince waiting in her room wearing only a towel.

The Dream Stalker needs a wife before dawn

Nia returns to Castle Perillos from a secret battlefield mission—days spent leaking Talan's invasion plan to save the British army—to find the prince waiting in her room wearing only a towel. He announces they will marry tonight. Not out of love: King Auberon intends to force Talan into a political marriage with Countess Arwenna, whose wealth could shore up the empty treasury. The only way to block it is to already be married. Talan has no idea Nia is a spy for Avalon Tower, sent to help assassinate him and his father. She's been posing as his Fey farm-girl mistress, using telepathic powers he severed and forced into his service. She cannot refuse without abandoning her mission. She cannot accept without marrying the man she's here to kill.

A basilisk chase and biscuit sacrifice seal a royal marriage

Talan brings Nia to Griflet, an eccentric forest cleric hooked on a glittering powder called bisen-root. Nia stalls by admitting she ate meat, violating Fey wedding tradition. Talan counters with a purification ritual: they must survive being hunted by a basilisk overnight. The creature nearly kills them—Nia's half-human body seizes in the frozen river, and Talan carries her through the woods for hours. When the basilisk catches up, Nia uses her Sentinel powers to shatter its magical shield, letting Talan drive his sword home. Hours later, they marry beneath frozen hawthorns. Nivene—Nia's spy partner, posing as her sister—braids her hair and whispers strategy: seduce him, stay close, wait for the assassination order.

Auberon's wedding tent burns as Talan defies his father

Their return to Perillos is a siege in miniature. Soldiers block the gate on Auberon's orders. Talan unleashes nightmare magic on the commanding knight, reducing him to a trembling wreck, while Nia slips into the man's mind to compel him to open the gates. Inside the courtyard, they find Arwenna radiant in her wedding gown, the king seething beside an enormous golden tent prepared for the wrong bride. Talan announces his marriage. Auberon declares it illegal. Lightning—summoned by Talan's primal weather magic—splits the sky and ignites the tent. Arwenna, vibrating with fury, is forced to curtsy to Nia. The declaration splits the court: no one knows whether to fear the king or his son more.