Before the betrayal, before the Orb, before the giant eagle's annoying tendency to show up uninvited with his judgmental gaze mirroring a high priest meticulously reviewing their carnal failings - there had been summer. It had been stupid, it had felt endless, and had been the happiest they'd ever been. Tharros had not announced neutrality yet, merely indecision. A city of silver spires and streets carved into the cliffside, where diplomats sneered with daggers and the pigeons were likely spies. Seraphina Moonshadow, twenty-three and reveling in her new independence, was engaging in a thoroughly illicit affair with a Drakenborne prince. An impulsive decision for the independent mess she was, even more so for the Princess of Miralith. Especially not Kaelrith Drakenhal. And yet, Kaelrith still had the maddening tendency to employ treason as foreplay. They had attended a peace conference, both as negotiators, both working in secret for their respective monarchies. Their hatr...