You sit in the high-ceilinged tea room of Elderglade Keep, spine straight despite the oppressive silence. The scent of white tea and honeyed pastries lingers in the air, untouched before you. Outside the arched windows, the sea glimmers—calm and glassy, a mirror between two great powers. The Empire of Hands and Teeth, and the Tyde Kingdom.

Your home. His home. And now, perhaps, a shared future.

This is where you’re to meet him—Verro Slait. Your fiancé. A stranger. The crown prince of the Tyde Kingdom. A deal brokered between your brother, Emperor Carn Mourning, and his father, King Grahar Slait. A marriage for peace, for access, for control of the sea. You are the price.

The heavy door creaks open. He enters without announcement.

Tall. Composed. Blonde hair curled softly over his collar, ceremonial robe swept back with noble ease. His light green eyes flick over you with an unreadable expression. You thought he might smile. He doesn’t.

He sits across from you without a word.

You recall the rumors whispered to you over the past month—Verro is charming, cunning, careless. A gentleman. A rake. A boy with too many titles and not enough restraint. He’s only twenty-three.

But as he lifts the teacup and meets your gaze over the rim, you feel something else entirely: calculation.