Malice

The first book in a duology, this fantasy novel reimagines the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale from the perspective of its villain. The story is set in the realm of Briar, founded centuries ago when the warrior queen Leythana won the Fae High King's challenge and earned a blessed crown that bound the throne to her female heirs. The Fae also granted Briar the Graces, women born with diluted Fae blood who produce magical elixirs of beauty, charm, and wisdom, as well as exclusive access to Etherium, a magic-rich mineral that made the realm the wealthiest in the world. During the later War of the Fae, Briar's army poisoned the homeland of the Vila, a dark race of once-Fae creatures whose blood turned dark after a Demon attack. A Vila retaliated by cursing Leythana's line: All heirs would die at 21 unless saved by true love's kiss. Two of the current crown princess's elder sisters have already perished from the curse.

Alyce, the narrator, is a half-Vila who works as Briar's only Dark Grace—a dealer in harmful magic rather than the blessings other Graces provide—at Lavender House, one of the realm's ranked Grace houses. Unlike the Graces, whose golden blood produces blessings, Alyce's green blood creates elixirs of ugliness, pain, and misfortune for patrons seeking cruel advantages against rivals. Her only companion is Callow, an injured kestrel she nursed back to health. Rose, a beauty Grace, is Alyce's chief tormentor, while Laurel, a wisdom Grace, occasionally shows quiet sympathy. Mistress Lavender, a Faded Grace whose blood has turned silver and whose power is waning, urges Alyce to stop provoking the others.

When an invitation arrives for Princess Aurora's 20th birthday masque, Laurel secretly provides Alyce with a gown and mask. At the ball, no one recognizes Alyce, and she experiences anonymity for the first time. Rose identifies Alyce by a stolen cloak and rips off her mask, publicly humiliating her. Alyce flees to the gardens, where Aurora follows. The princess is unbothered by Alyce's Vila heritage and helps her escape, marking the beginning of their connection.

While gathering robin's eggs outside Briar's main gates, Alyce discovers a ruined black tower on the sea cliffs. Inside, she meets Kal, a man bound to the tower's darkness by an ancient enchantment who cannot enter sunlight. Kal claims he knew Alyce's mother, Lynnore, a half-Vila who tried to free him 20 years earlier and was killed for it. He reveals that Alyce is not only half Vila but also half Shifter, a creature of Malterre capable of changing form, and he offers to train her.

Kal teaches Alyce that her Vila magic works through intent rather than through the elixirs and enhancements, or supplementary ingredients, that the Graces forced on her. She can find and manipulate "hearts" of magic in objects, storms, and living beings. When called to attend a dying nobleman, Alyce attempts to heal him, but Vila magic cannot accomplish light purposes, and the duke dies violently. Kal also gives Alyce a book presenting an alternative history in which the Vila were not monsters but a proud race betrayed by the Etherians, the light Fae who inhabit Etheria and originally granted Briar the Graces.

Aurora begins visiting Alyce's workroom in secret, disguised as a patron. She shares her desire to reform the Grace system and break her curse without relying on a man's kiss. Together, they attempt rituals from old Nightseeker texts, books by humans who once learned dark magic from the Vila. A summoning ritual using both their blood erupts in green fire, and a Vila face appears, speaking the words "Find me, my pet" (236). The ritual deepens the bond between Alyce and Aurora.

Meanwhile, King Tarkin, who married into the royal family from the foreign kingdom of Paladay, commissions Alyce to curse objects using her blood, offering triple pay off the books. Alyce accepts, viewing the gold as her means of escaping Briar. The commissions escalate: a chalice erasing memory, a ring causing blindness, a bracelet causing paralysis. When the king publicly sentences a Grace named Narcisse to be bled of her power, the healers shackle Narcisse with Alyce's paralysis bracelet. Alyce recognizes her direct complicity and resolves to flee.

Her attempt to break Kal's enchantment fails, and she later discovers all her gold has been stolen and replaced with a new commission: brooches the king wants cursed to cause death. Her escape route severed, Alyce curses the brooches with sleep instead, deliberately defying Tarkin.

When Prince Elias of Ryna arrives as a suitor, his public kiss fails to break Aurora's curse. Alyce confronts Aurora, suspecting she told Tarkin about Alyce's hidden gold. Aurora denies everything and confesses she wants to kiss only Alyce. They kiss, and the curse breaks with explosive force. Aurora's curse mark vanishes.

The next morning, Aurora brings Alyce before her parents and announces Alyce broke the curse. Tarkin retaliates by parading tortured Graces wearing Alyce's cursed items. He reveals his larger plan: An edict will grant him sole ruling power, followed by an invasion of Etheria, the Fae homeland, to seize its magic and immortality. He confesses he allowed his elder daughters to die from the curse to create conditions for war. Alyce attacks Tarkin but stops at Aurora's plea and is thrown into the dungeons.

Aurora and Laurel free Alyce. They plan for Alyce to incapacitate Tarkin with a sleeping curse so Queen Mariel can summon the Etherians, who are bound to protect the rightful ruler if asked. Laurel extracts a blood oath from Aurora to abolish the Grace Laws, which govern and constrain every aspect of Graces' lives and labor, in exchange for her help.

At the black tower, Alyce breaks Kal's enchantment. Free at last, Kal reveals his true intentions: He wants to destroy Briar and rebuild Malterre. His lover was the Vila who cursed Aurora's line, and a medallion around his neck contains her spirit, named Mortania. He killed Lynnore when she refused to serve as a vessel for Mortania's resurrection. Kal smashes the medallion, releasing Mortania's power into Alyce. When Aurora arrives at the tower, Kal Shifts into Alyce's form and tricks Aurora into touching a cursed spinning wheel spindle, its sleeping curse amplified by Mortania's lethal intent. Aurora collapses. Empowered by Mortania's merged magic, Alyce breaks free and kills Kal.

Endlewild, the Etherian ambassador, arrives and takes Aurora and Alyce to Lavender House, where the Graces soften the curse from death to sleep, wakeable by a kiss. Laurel confesses she has been spying on Alyce for Endlewild, that she stole Alyce's gold, and that she used her wisdom gift to alter Aurora's memories so the princess will remember Alyce only as a threat. The Etherians' condition for intervening on behalf of the Graces was that no Vila could hold power or influence the queen. Alyce kills Laurel in a rage.

Alyce infiltrates the palace and reaches Aurora's bedside, but her kiss cannot penetrate the Etherian protections. Consumed by grief and Mortania's influence, Alyce encases Aurora in an impenetrable cage of thorns. She Shifts wings from her back, launches into the sky, and lays siege to Briar, destroying its defenses and setting Lavender House ablaze. Callow joins her in flight. She wounds Endlewild and sends his staff plummeting. Ships flee the harbor as the realm burns.

Rejecting all her former names, Alyce claims a new identity whispered by Mortania: Nimara, the name of the first Vila. She roars it across the burning realm. The story continues in the sequel, Misrule.