The Descent

Who do you become in the face of falling?

Elise had always coveted power and respect, and as the heir to the Icarian throne she felt that she deserved it. When told she would have to marry a man of lesser rank to be crowned-one who she hardly even knew-she was furious. Her life had been spent bowing to the whims of her mother and the royal council, all in efforts to distance herself from the poor reputation of her late father's reign. Despite the outrage, she was willing to continue sacrificing to finally secure her legacy.

Her arranged nuptials had been meticulously planned, she had molded herself to become exactly who the council had imagined for the throne. Everything had been done right.

Almost everything.

Elise's heart lies with someone else, a childhood friend who is now at the head of her Queen's Guard. Their stolen moments have become more precarious. Though she wouldn't dare dream of giving up her knight, the weight of the risk causes cracks to form in her carefully curated image. Everything she's ever wanted threatens to slip from her grasp as secrets crawl out of the shadows. After all, the higher you float, the farther you have to fall.