A fragile peace. Shifting power. A tight-knit settlement – no escape. The settlement of March is a lonely backwater that makes up its own laws and serves out its own justice. For a generation, peace has rested on the edge of a sword blade. The sword in question hangs on the wall of the tiny house where Fran lives with his mother. But after Elsa, the girl Fran loves, is promised to the son of the chief, that fragile peace shatters into a million pieces. Falsely accused of injuring his rival, Fran's back is against the wall. Fight he must, but he needs to learn how to handle the sword … and fast.Help with this comes from an unlikely source: Arete, the woman who lives in a cave on the mountainside with a wildcat and a dragon as companions. Finding her removes him briefly from the politics raging in March, but then he must return to stand alongside his friends as rival factions take up arms.With a setting inspired by ancient Britain, this is an atmospheric, magic-sprinkled tale of courage in the face of disaster and of battling isolation and finding friendship in unexpected places.Wishing Shelf Book Awards Finalist 2024Listed in LoveReading's Indie Books We Love
