She needed to uncover her fatherвЂ™s secrets soon, before Norgard became too much like home again-and before she once more set her heart on someone who could never be hers. The disappointment she felt afterward bothered her even now. And just yesterday, it even seemed for a moment that he was about to kiss her. She savored every time he touched her, which he did often, always finding some excuse to place his fingers on her shoulder or back or to tug at her hand. Instead, she found herself longing to see him. Even worse, she felt her instinct to stay away from him weakening each day. He kept showing up at her door with sweet rolls and an invitation to ride or sometimes just to walk in the gardens or along the ramparts. In the two weeks since the first trial, Kate had spent nearly every morning with him. Still, the temptation to tell him kept getting stronger. But of the two, CorwinвЂ™s image had been clearer somehow, almost brighter. Watching the two princes inside that unnatural mist had been strange, almost like watching a dream-their shapes and those they battled, indistinct and confused. Although there was no clear winner in the first uror trial, he had done well. The risk of what Corwin would do-what he would be compelled to do-if he learned the truth about her seemed greater than ever, now that he might finally become the next king. SheвЂ™d never experienced such open hatred for wilders before. She didnвЂ™t see how she could ever tell him she was a wilder, especially not now with the growing threat of the Rising. She longed to tell Corwin, but couldnвЂ™t find a way to do so without revealing her secret. Not like at night, when it vanished completely, but as if there was something standing between her and it. The moment Kate stepped through the trees, she felt cut off from her magic. ThereвЂ™d been something wrong in the Wandering Woods that day when theyвЂ™d returned to search for the drakes. She never wanted to be taken away from her father by those masked people.Д«ut what happens when not telling the truth might put them in more danger than telling them? Kate wondered. вЂњYes, Daddy.вЂќ Kate believed him completely, especially once he explained the consequences of being discovered a wilder. Not telling them is a sacrifice we must make for them. вЂњItвЂ™s not a lie when the truth would hurt the ones we love. вЂњIsnвЂ™t that a lie?вЂќ Kate wrinkled her nose. вЂњDoes Mother know?вЂќ a seven-year-old Kate had asked him. Keeping her wilder abilities a secret was normal, expected, a promise sheвЂ™d made to her father from the first moment she was old enough to understand that she was different. With their paths once more entangled, Kate and Corwin must put the past behind them to face this new threat and an even darker menace stirring in the kingdom.FOR THE FIRST TIME IN her life, Kate regretted not being able to tell Corwin the truth about her magic. Her first love, the boy she swore to forget after he condemned her father to death. And itвЂ™s this magic that leads her to a caravan massacred by drakes in broad daylight-the only survivor Corwin Tormaine, the son of the king. Fortunately, Kate has a secret edge: She is a wilder, born with forbidden magic that allows her to influence the minds of animals. Only the most skilled ride for the Relay and only the fastest survive, for when night falls, the drakes-deadly flightless dragons-come out to hunt. Cast out of the nobility, Kate now works for the royal courier service. ItвЂ™s a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king of Rime. вЂњAt once fresh, at once classic, Onyx and Ivory is a page-turning blend of monsters, magic, and romance.вЂќ -Susan Dennard, New York Times bestselling author of Truthwitch Acclaimed author Mindee Arnett thrusts readers into a beautiful, dangerous, and magical world in this stunningly epic and romantic fantasy for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sarah Raasch.

Onyx and ivory