First published 2015
Duchess Diane Tremontaine sits at her manor window on The Hill, surveying her city with calculating eyes. Her beauty masks a cunning mind that weaves plots through the upper class. Below in the countryside, farm girl Micah tends her family's harvest while losing herself in mathematical puzzles that reveal an extraordinary intellect. At the bustling Docks, Ixkaab Balam steps off her family's merchant ship, ready to manipulate this new land for profit and pleasure. Meanwhile, at the University, scholar Rafe chafes against the rigid class system that blocks his revolutionary dreams. Four lives converge in a city built on swordplay and secrets, where buried lies threaten to surface. When wit becomes weapon and scandal spreads like wildfire, the players must navigate treacherous social currents where reputations die as easily as bodies. This opening episode launches readers back into Ellen Kushner's world of elegant danger, where chocolate and manners matter as much as steel.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, mystery, fantasy
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: The Hill, Docks, University
Period: 19th-century
47 pages · Kindle Edition · Serial Box Publishing