Crueler Mercies
'Vita's rage overflowed until she was prepared to drown in it, and she knew that she would never again dam this anger to please another.'
After nine years as the people's beloved princess in the sun-soaked Kingdom of Carca, Vita witnesses the execution of her mother by her father's hand. Forced into exile, Vita fades into obscurity with her only friends the crows that visit her window.
Eleven years later, Vita is given a choice: marry an enemy general, granting him legitimacy to take the throne, or die as the forgotten princess. With time running out, Vita meets Soline, an intriguing lady-in-waiting who introduces her to the powerful-but-unstable magic of alchemy.
If Vita and Soline can learn to control it and the undeniable spark between them they could burn the world of men to the ground.
Maren Chase is a writer and frequent museum wanderer. She studied history at Regent's University London, where she led tours through monastic cloisters and across plague pits on the weekends. Since returning home to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she has worked in the contemporary art world, and in her spare time, she devours stories about vengeful women, forbidden romance, and the inherent angst of immortality.