Pay the price of blood and snow: Snow White’s wicked queen rises to her destiny in the second book of a queer, witchy duology from the author of Malice.
The wicked queen's story did not end with a happily ever after—and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
With the king bound to her magic mirror and his daughter, the rightful heir, hidden away, Queen Ayleth holds the kingdom in her grasp.
Yet despite her power, Ayleth is consumed: by fears her former coven will return, by the risk her secrets will be exposed, by her deepening dark magic—and by thoughts of her lost love, Jacquetta, whose betrayal still haunts her.
But Ayleth’s world begins to unravel when Princess Blodwyn returns from exile alongside the king’s scheming sister, bringing a plan to reclaim the throne through the Braxos Trials—a contest of bravery, wisdom and justice.
As Ayleth fights to keep the crown she sacrificed everything to win, Blodwyn finds her homecoming far more dangerous than expected. Surrounded by enemies, plagued by rumours of a long-buried curse, and drawn to a rival in the trials, she struggles to know who—or what—to trust.
As the battle for the realm intensifies, both women must fight not only for the throne, but for the truth of who they are—and what they are willing to sacrifice to wear the crown.
'An alluring, vengeful origin story that brings tremendous dimension to the classic fairy tale' Chloe Gong, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Immortal Longings