Under His Crown, On My Terms

To save her people, she became a tyrant's captive. To survive his court, she had to become his weapon.

Princess Isolde of Oakhaven volunteered for the slaughter. To end a devastating war, she willingly entered the frozen fortress of the North to marry King Vane Thorne, the scarred, ruthless ruler feared across the continent as the Scourge of the North.

Everyone believes she has been sacrificed to a monster.

Even Isolde believes it until the night she tries to bury a dagger in her husband's heart.

Instead of killing her, Vane reveals a terrifying truth. His kingdom is being consumed by the Skinned, ancient creatures that steal faces, memories, and identities while wearing their victims like living masks. Every execution that earned him his monstrous reputation was a desperate attempt to stop an enemy no one else could see.

Though she struggles to believe him, Isolde agrees to help uncover the truth. When she exposes a trusted member of the royal court as one of the Skinned, she realizes the real monsters have been hiding in plain sight.

As they wage a secret war behind the walls of Iron Keep while pretending to despise each other before the court, hatred slowly gives way to trust, and trust blossoms into love. But with Isolde's childhood friend determined to rescue her, betrayal spreading through the castle, and enemies wearing the faces of those they love, every choice carries a deadly price.

As the truth about her bloodline unravels, Isolde must decide where her loyalty lies. The kingdom she was born to save may be built on lies, while the man she was sent to kill may be humanity's only hope.

Because some monsters wear a human face.

And sometimes the only person the world calls a monster is trying to save it.