He swept Raisa up into his arms and kissed her like it was his first, last, and only

You look like a boy who has eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge and doesn't like the taste.

Will you give the girl to me?" she said. "Will you let me try?" He nodded, dizzy with relief. "Please, Willo. Please. Save her. It doesn't matter...what happens to me.

Raisa felt relieved, yet oddly disappointed. She was the blooded princess heir, yet in servants' clothes she was apparently unrecognizable. In the stories, rulers had a natural presence about them that identified them as such, even dressed in rags. What's the nature of royalty, she wondered. Is it like a gown you put on that disappears when you take it off? Does anyone look beyond the finery? Could anyone in the queendom take her place, given the right accessories? If so, it was contrary to everything she'd ever been taught about bloodlines.

But maybe it's better to go after something, and not get it, than to not even try.

It was one of the warm nights at the end of summer that makes promises that won't be kept.

My tagline is ‘Less sex, more romance, lower body count.’