All beginnings come at a price.
Are you willing to pay it?

CHAPTER 1

“I’m not afraid,” I mutter. My breath comes out in a puff of fog as I watch the tremendous black spaceship descend a hundred feet from me. It aims to land at the edge of the snow-covered Fye Island, where my friends and I wait.

The two setting suns paint the massive warship, the size of a small city, in a rosy light. I shiver as my gaze trails its jagged surface with cannons, missiles, and energy-shield piercing arrays. I’ve witnessed these world-erasing weapons in action.

“Good,” Callum says. He tucks a long, dark violet strand of hair behind my ear. “Don’t show fear and you’ll be fine.” His clear blue eyes glint with encouragement in his tanned face. The pale line of the scar that runs from his left eyebrow to his jaw crinkles as he gives me a smile. He looks younger than his twenty-five years, projecting a confident aura, dressed in his black, military-style uniform that emphasizes his muscular body.

I look away from Callum before he can detect worry in my dark violet eyes.

Muscles tremble in my belly. I press a hand over it, pretending to smooth my silver cape. I inhale the crisp winter air, which smells of the promise of snow.

I shouldn’t be this scared! I am nineteen years old and not a child anymore!

I close my eyes for a second. The black spaceship and the desolate ruins of the Crystal Palace that was once my home disappear from my view. I can’t imagine what Callum’s father thinks of my “backwater” world of Uhna that he planned to conquer, not ally with. But his plans had to change once I claimed his son.

The powerful spacecraft lowers three clawlike black metal prongs that tear into the frozen ground. Chunks of rocks break off from the island’s cliffside and plunge into the Fyoon Ocean below. Gusts of hot air, smelling of brine and metal grease, whip dirt into our faces.

Ten feet away on my right, a pair of wooden double doors remain. Still intact, they survived the devastation the Archgod of Chaos and Destruction, aka DLD, wreaked on Uhna. They stand proudly, refusing to give in to reality. The hot air from the Teryn ship blasts the doors, shaking them in their frame. The wood creaks, resisting the pressure for a moment. Then the doors come crashing down to the ground. If they couldn’t survive the arrival of the Teryn praelor, what chance do I have?

The back of the spaceship opens. A long metal ramp slams into the ground, reverberating under our feet. Black-clad Teryn warriors rush out, lining up like a living corridor in front of us.

Watching them, I realize I should have prepared better! I should have dressed more formally! Or I should have . . .

A hand touches my arm. I look down beside me at Glenna, my best friend and healer.

“You can do this,” Glenna whispers, her dark crimson eyes full of compassion. “You’ve faced worse and come out stronger.”

Nodding, I take a deep breath to release the tension.

A large but fit older man steps out of the ship. He wears a black uniform similar to Callum’s but with a lot more colorful buttons on its lapel. There is no denying the familial resemblance between them. With a grimace, the man takes in the sad state of Fye Island. Then his piercing blue gaze lands on me.

I smile in welcome, not showing fear. I hope.

The older man’s expression turns dark as he marches toward me. I can’t help but wonder if he is upset about my Bride’s Choice claim on Callum. We have never met, and he is already disappointed in me. Did he want someone else for his son?

I gulp down my rising anxiety.

The praelor wears an expression of confidence that borders on arrogance. He stops inches from me.

I refuse to step back and give in to intimidation.

Callum clears his throat and says, “Father, this is Ma’hana—”

I flinch at his use of my royal title. “Just Lilla,” I interrupt him. I’m a princess in name only. There is a change happening to the Uhnan monarchy, and it may not last much longer.

“Sybil Lilla,” Callum continues, “right hand of the Archgoddess of the Eternal Light and Order, general to Her armies in this Era War.”

I cringe. This title sounds even worse. I have nothing to show for it—no army, only my seven friends who decided to join me, my only allies.

“General, is it?” the older man says with a snort.

Callum ignores his father and turns to me. “Lilla, meet Caderyn a’ruun, the Teryn praelor.”

Caderyn crosses his thick muscular arms while glaring down at me. Even his short black beard, with a few gray hairs in it, looks furious.

What do you say to a warmongering emperor who has conquered many worlds and displaced thousands of refugees from their homes in the process? Refugees that sought asylum on Uhna. “It’s uh . . .” I pause. I can’t say it’s an honor to meet him when he arrived at my world prepared to blast the corruption away with his armada, along with anyone who happened to be in his way.

I focus on his positive traits and say, “You have a nice beard! It looks well established. May I call you Caderyn?”

Caderyn scoffs. “No.”