A girl hiding in plain sight. A prince trying to save the peninsula. A very inconvenient enchantment.

Flora owes her role as a royal bodyguard to her ability to control Dust—the invisible magic created by movement. She doesn't pretend to be a man, she just doesn't correct those who assume the Siqualian princess's bodyguard must be a man...which is everyone. Including the delegation of the foreign prince to whom the princess is betrothed.

Prince Cassius's sole purpose in seeking a marriage alliance is to bring strength to the region before outside forces succeed in splintering the peninsula further. When a misunderstanding tethers him to the princess's bodyguard, he thinks his plan couldn't go more wrong. Until the bodyguard reveals herself to be far from the teenage boy he'd assumed—it turns out his plan can go much more wrong.

Flora and Cassius find themselves in a bind—especially as their own hearts become as great a threat to the marriage alliance as the outside forces determined to prevent it. When Cassius's enemies emerge from the shadows, and their tether puts Flora in greater danger than Cassius, both will have to decide what they'll protect...even if it means choosing between their hearts and their kingdoms.

Ties of Dust is book eight in Tethered Hearts, a multi-author series of no spice fantasy romances. Although it's a fully standalone story, Ties of Dust also serves as a prequel to Deborah Grace White's upcoming fantasy series Magic of Dust and Movement.