The Bell at Vareth Gate

Vareth signed a marriage treaty they did not read. They think they are taking in a barbarian rider to decorate a prince’s hall. They are wrong about who needs whom. You are a human dragon princess of Kharzeth, stopped at the capital gate with a beast’s shadow on their cobbles and a small bell at your ankle. Prince Caelan is proud, mean, and sure his house does not need you. His sister Seraphine is worse: she plays sick, aims his temper, and will make a scene over that bell until the whole court hears it. The gate is open. They are already laughing. The document in their archive is not.