The Princess And The Tower
novel
Princess Irena Vaudrin is meant to marry a man she hates, pray to a god she doesn’t believe in, and smile while the court whispers that she’s far too fond of her best friend. Instead, when she refuses, her father signs a decree and has her quietly removed. For the good of the realm, of course. Exiled to an abandoned wizard’s tower on a lonely mountain, Irena is supposed to fade into shameful obscurity. Her only company: Lira, a shy halfling maid torn from her own family to serve the disgraced princess, and the distant, bone-shaking roars of the dragon that keeps them both from escaping. The tower should have been her prison. It turns out to be her education. Behind warded doors and rotten floors, Irena uncovers the remnants of Archmage Thalen’s life’s work: scrolls, sigils, and a buried system of trials reaching deep beneath the mountain. With Lira as her sharp-eyed, stubbornly loyal assistant, Irena begins to teach herself the art her ancestors had forgotten in all but the most faded of tapestries. Spectral lights lead to floating furniture; musical spells lead to secret rooms; alchemical glasswork turns into weapons the crown has never before seen. Outside, the world keeps turning. Each week, a caravan arrives with meagre supplies and a pair of knights to “ensure her safety” – including a sardonic lady-knight whose lazy drawl of “princess” makes Irena’s stomach swoop for entirely un-regal reasons. Rumours of Irena’s supposed sins spread through the ranks. The church and the