The General's Debt

In the year she came of age, Karen bought the fallen Seventh Prince Valerius at a market. His sweet words left her with child, yet when he took the throne no royal carriage came—only a decree condemning her family to death. Forced to drink crimson petals, she watched her parents executed, until Lord General Kaelan traded his military honors to save her and swore he had loved her from afar.

Three years later, pregnant again, Karen overhears Kaelan confess that he urged the king to slaughter her family, and that she lives only because she resembles Queen Lirael. The physicians had called her barren after the crimson petals, so this child is a miracle she must hide. When Kaelan asks whether she carries his heir, his hopeful tone is belied by a wary, calculating light, and she denies it.

Now Kaelan demands she attend the Autumn Moon banquet to comfort the grieving Queen Lirael, and Karen must play the devoted wife while guarding her secret and her unborn child.