Balter (verb): “To dance artlessly, without particular grace or skill but usually with enjoyment.”

Ashton Harper has three problems and two of them are his sisters. First Drusilla, the oldest, who has decided that all she cares about is muslin and courtship. Second Zizi, the youngest, a stubborn optimist who is constantly pushing her brother outside his comfort zone, whether it’s in their dancing lessons or his disbelief in magic.

When Maleen arrives in Dranneth, she hopes to connect with loyal Ardeners so they can plan to retake Arden from King Gregor and Prince Melanor of Pandor. She’s determined to accomplish this on her own terms: she’ll continue to hide behind the safety of the Dragon Fever veil and remain dead to Crown Prince Jared of Dranneth.

“A story so real…it was.”

What would it be like to enter the world of our story books? This is a question many children have dreamed about, but have you ever considered what would happen if the characters in story books entered our world?

A collection of new fairy tales…

Throughout his career, the scholar and professor Zao Cadmus did extensive research on international mythology, ethnic fairy tales, and folklore. The primary collection of his work, An Anthology of Fairy Tales from Around the World, includes such classics as “Chang and the Dragons,” “The Swan Princesses,” and “The White Buffalo.”

Maleen, Princess of Arden, longs to be free of her father’s plan to keep her safe from the Aharrans, a barbarous army threatening to invade their nation. He has given her two choices: exile in a tower that’s protected by the work of a Stone Sage, or marriage to Prince Jared of Dranneth, their ally to the north. Maleen chooses the tower, hoping it will give her beloved Prince Melanor of Pandor time to rescue her. But Melanor doesn’t arrive in time, and Maleen must come to terms with her decision.

Smuggins stands every day ready and waiting in the King's courtroom in the castle. It's the center of all the kingdom, perched high in its city, rising from the plains around it. The King's people love him, but there are rumors of unrest at the edges of kingdom

Princess Maleen and her maidservant Marietta survived three years of exile in a tower only to escape and discover their kingdom’s capital, Ardenay, in ruins. Now Maleen must forge ahead and make her own decisions about her future, even though she has no idea of what has happened to her country or to her father, King Darrick. Why didn't Pandor and Prince Melanor come to their aid?

Asael is a kingdom in crisis.
Perhaps it is a coincidence that Anya arrived on Karan’s doorstep—without a past and with great skill in magic—the same night that Crown Prince Loran died, but Karan is not certain she believes in coincidence anymore.