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Long ago, the gods unleashed monsters upon the five kingdoms of Calandra to remind us that humans are insignificant – that we must pray to the gods for mercy throughout our fragile, fleeting lives.

I didn’t need a deity to remind me I was powerless.

Being a princess had never been more than a performance – twenty-three years of empty titles and hollow traditions.

Until the day an infamous monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince walked into my father’s throne room and ruined my life.

The day I married a stranger, signed a magical treaty, and set off across the continent to the most treacherous kingdom in all the realm.

That was the day I learned that not all myths are make-believe. That lies and legends are often the same.

And that the only way to kill the monsters we fear was to become one . . .