No King, No Kingdom

Lady Merisel Dane has held the kingdom of Lorne together for two years without a king, using grain ledgers, sealed letters, and one very useful hostage. His name is Kestrel. He is the last son of the deposed house, raised at her table, and the finest administrator in the realm. He has been in love with her since he was sixteen, and has never said so, because a hostage who says so dies. Now a northern army is crossing the river, and the only marriage that will hold the north is one she wants no part of. So the hostage makes her a proposal: legitimise me. Marry me. Put two claims on one throne and end the war before it starts. It is treason. It is premature. It is also correct. A classic high fantasy romance about council chambers, cold chapels, and two people who chose each other in public and had to live up to it.