by Amy Ewing
Part of The Lone City, book 1.5
First published 2015
Raven knows trouble awaits when the Countess of the Stone purchases her at the Auction. Her fears prove correct once she arrives at the palace. The Countess cares little about producing an heir. Instead, she views Raven as a test subject for cruel experiments targeting both mind and body. Raven endures the Countess's twisted scientific curiosity while clinging to her identity as Raven Stirling. She refuses to let the abuse erase who she is. Through each ordeal, she holds onto two hopes: finding a way to escape and reuniting with Violet someday. This digital novella shifts perspective from Violet's story in The Jewel to explore Raven's parallel nightmare. While Violet served the Duchess of the Lake, Raven suffered under different but equally ruthless nobility. Her determination to survive and maintain her sense of self becomes her anchor in a world designed to strip away her humanity.
Genres: science-fiction, historical-fiction, abuse, fantasy
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: determined-protagonist, enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Countess of the Stone, Duchess of the Lake
Period: Parallel Narrative
73 pages · Kindle Edition · HarperTeen
Content warnings: abuse, body-horror, medical-trauma