Flames Like Vines (Snow Like Ashes #2.1)

This is a companion story to ICE LIKE FIRE, the sequel to SNOW LIKE ASHES. It parallels the beginning events of ICE LIKE FIRE.

"She was part of Summer, and Summer was part of her, and this land wouldn't abandon her too."

Ceridwen Preben, princess of Summer, has spent her life plotting against her brother, Simon, the Summerian king. Simon has embraced the ruling family's reputation for using their conduit to keep their subjects in a state of bliss, and has spent his reign slowly driving Summer into ruin, filling everyone with carelessness and letting them turn a blind eye to Summer's rampant -- and deadly -- slave trade. But Ceridwen refuses to let her kingdom disintegrate, and with the help of her fellow rebel-in-arms, Lekan, she hopes to undo Simon's lethal dealings.

But when Ceridwen uncovers Simon's deadliest plot yet, she starts to realize just how deep magic runs -- and that even though her kingdom is one of sunlight, with light, there always comes shadows.