Chapter One - Protector

While traveling to safe harbor from conflict in her homeland, Rima encounters a creature with the looks of an angel, but with the actions of a monster. By the end of their encounter, she's pregnant. Thus, cast off by her family, Rima remains in a foreign and unwelcoming country, facing a life of destitution. Her child, Lucian, is born one part his mother and nine parts his absent father. He's intelligent and clever, but not much in the way of obedient or even-tempered. While Lucian is a toddler, Rima has a brutal encounter with the king's strongarm, Marquis Fabien de Vistré, soon placing her and the growing Lucian under the scrutiny of many. For the sake of everyone, Lucian is best left worlds away.