Brittney Arena’s debut novel, A Dance of Lies (2025), is the first installment in the romantasy duology The Edge of Glass. A #1 Sunday Times bestseller and the FairyLoot July 2025 Adult featured book, the novel draws from Arena’s own experiences with chronic illness. The story follows Vasalie Moran, a celebrated dancer who is released from a two-year imprisonment that has left her with chronic pain and debilitating physical limitations. To secure her freedom, she must accept a deal from King Illian, the man who framed her: Act as his spy at the Crowns’ Gathering, a treacherous political summit, and navigate a web of courtly intrigue and deadly commands.

The novel explores themes of The Cost of Survival, Physical Disability as a Source of Strength, and The Illusions of Political Power. Vasalie’s journey forces her into morally compromising positions as she confronts the deceptions of Illian and his ruthless ally, her abusive father, General Stova. Her struggle with chronic illness becomes a catalyst for creative innovation, as she reinvents her artistry to adapt to her body’s new constraints. As Vasalie is drawn deeper into a conspiracy of betrayal, she discovers that the authority of the men who control her is a carefully constructed facade built on lies and manipulation.

This guide refers to the 2025 Del Rey edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of illness, death, death by suicide, graphic violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, child abuse, ableism, gender discrimination, mental illness, and substance use.

Plot Summary

Vasalie Moran, once the prized dancer known as the “King’s Jewel,” has spent two years wasting away in a dungeon. She was framed for murder by her patron and protector, King Illian Orvere of West Miridran, and is on the verge of succumbing to despair when he unexpectedly summons her from prison to offer her a deal. Illian will grant Vasalie freedom and a full pardon in exchange for her services as a spy at the Crowns’ Gathering, a monthlong political summit for the northern nations. Known as the Crown’s Syndicate, the northern nations include West, East, and Central Miridran, each ruled by a brother. Despite her body being ravaged by her imprisonment—leaving her with chronic pain, atrophied muscles, and a heart condition—Vasalie agrees. 

Vasalie is placed under the care of Illian’s chief attendant, Brigitte, who helps her begin the long road to physical recovery. For her audition to join the Gathering’s performers, Vasalie devises a clever technique using colored millen (an extremely fine-ground flour) to create stunning visual effects, such as wings of dust, that mask her new physical limitations. Her creativity wins her a coveted soloist spot under the discerning eye of the summit’s Master of Revels, a talented dancer named Copelan, who reveals that he is the other soloist and that they will be performing together.

Once on the Isle of Anell, the site of the Gathering, Vasalie begins her tasks for Illian. She befriends the kind Head of Staff, Laurent Achea, as ordered. For her first signature performance, meant to honor the kingdom of Brisendale, Illian commands Vasalie to secure an invitation to a private banquet hosted by his charismatic younger brother, King Anton of East Miridran. To do so, Vasalie impulsively pulls a surprised Anton into the dance, a move that offends the notoriously short-tempered King Rurik of Brisendale. Anton, however, deftly smooths the situation over by claiming that it was his idea to add drama, and he grants Vasalie the invitation. 

At the banquet, Illian gives Vasalie a vial of bellamira poison and orders her to kill Lord Bayard, one of Anton’s closest friends, whom Vasalie knows as the gentle Gustav. Wracked with guilt, especially after learning that Gustav has an ill daughter, Vasalie decides to spare his life. She drinks half the poisoned wine herself before switching their glasses, causing them both to collapse from non-lethal doses and making herself appear as an unintended victim. 

After waking in Anton’s royal wing, Vasalie is cared for by Laurent and learns that Anton suspects she’s working for Illian. The web of intrigue thickens as Vasalie begins to notice inconsistencies in Illian’s story that positioned her imprisonment as mysteriously “necessary,” such as the fact that he has forged love letters between her and Lord Sarden, the man she was framed for killing, to incriminate her further if she disobeys Illian. Vasalie’s suspicions of Illian—whom she once hero-worshipped—also grow because she suspects that he’s the prophesized destructive figure in an augury by Miridran priests: The prophecy speaks of a king who is one of three brothers and can trick the Fate of Morta, the goddess of death. 

Vasalie’s life turns more complicated when she sees her estranged and abusive father, General Maksim Stova of Brisendale, at the Gathering. In a panic, she confesses her true identity as Vastianna Stova to a suspicious Copelan, explaining that she fled her father years ago to escape a forced marriage at 13. 

Illian’s next task is for Vasalie to sneak a tailor named Annais onto the isle. She manipulates a trusting Laurent into helping by revealing a network of secret tunnels that Anton uses, which Vasalie explores, discovering spyholes behind mosaics that allow her to see into Illian’s private rooms. The budding bond between Vasalie and Copelan snaps when Esmée Fontaine, Illian’s former favorite dancer and Copelan’s past love, arrives at the Gathering, distracting Copelan. The situation escalates dramatically when Illian stages a public coup, using Annais to reveal that his older brother, King Estienne of Central Miridran, is her “illegitimate” son and thus ineligible for the throne. Estienne is dethroned, and his territory is set to be divided between Illian and Anton, consolidating Illian’s power.

At the final signature performance, Anton and his court are conspicuously absent. Illian takes the stage to publicly accuse his brother of treason, claiming that Anton has been secretly arming the nation of Razam for a war against Brisendale. He presents forged letters, created using a replica of Anton’s seal, as proof. With King Rurik and the other Crowns backing him, Illian is effectively declared the sole ruler of Miridran. Fearing that Illian has killed Anton, Vasalie flees into the tunnels, where she finds Anton tied to a great chandelier. Upon returning to the palace to seek help for Anton, Vasalie is captured by Illian. Illian tells Vasalie that he will let Anton live if she kills Rurik for him. Trapped and desperate, Vasalie kills Rurik with a katar, a dagger provided by Illian. 

Leaving Anton, Illian forces Vasalie to attend a banquet, which is actually the wedding ceremony for her father and the new Queen of Brisendale. While there, General Stova announces Vasalie’s engagement to Illian. Vasalie realizes that Illian is the man to whom her father arranged her marriage when she was 13; she has been effectively played by both men. Illian takes Vasalie to Anton to flaunt their engagement. 

When Illian realizes that Anton and Vasalie have genuine feelings for each other, he cuts the chord of the chandelier, killing Anton. He also decides to kill Vasalie by hanging her from the balcony. Just then, Anton comes back to life, making Vasalie understand that he is the figure from the priestly prophecy—the rare mortal who has managed to trick the Fate of Morta. Deciding to end the vicious cycle of treachery, Vasalie flings herself from the balcony, dragging Illian with her. 

Vasalie dies upon impact with the rocks. Her spirit is met by the Fate of Morta, and Vasalie nearly accepts Morta’s offer to remain in the underworld. However, Anton appears in the underworld, having carried Vasalie’s corpse there. Immortal and able to traverse the realms with the help of a special lens that enables him to see through Morta’s illusions, Anton bargains for Vasalie’s life. Morta tells him that the price is a piece of his soul: the goodness and warmth tied to his memories of Vasalie. He accepts, and Vasalie is resurrected.

Vasalie awakens a week later in Razam, under the protection of its ruler, Queen Sadira. She learns that Anton, before his capture, used a secret invention called a Lensgraph to create “stills”—photographic evidence of the conspiracy between Illian and her father. This proof can exonerate Razam and expose the true traitors. 

However, the bargain has come at a terrible cost. Anton’s memory of her is gone, and his personality is warped into a cold, cruel reflection of his former self, now aligned with Morta. Believing that he’s the destruction promised in the prophecy, Anton confines himself to a room lest he harm others. Vowing to save Anton, Vasalie manages to steal the special lens from him. As the novel ends, Vasalie prepares to use the lens to travel to Morta’s lair, face the goddess, and restore Anton’s memories, setting up the stage for the novel’s sequel, To Dance With Death.