It takes an artist's touch to paint the portrait of a king.

When Lyara, a painter with a fickle muse, falls for a royal soldier, she's inspired to make her dreams of change a reality.

Avaron's poor border towns live under constant threat from monsters her fellow socialites know only from text books. The reigning king refuses to defend his people, so she devises a scheme that might see her gallant soldier wear the crown. Failure means more senseless death—or an even more dastardly man taking the throne.

The army's willing to follow him, but the Avaronian people will take more convincing. Fortunately, there's a plan for that, too—although it might cost Lyara her faith.

Get a taste for the world of the Heritor's Helm series in this free prequel novella!