The Beggar with the Dragon’s Seal. Summoned by the King’s Decree. Book 2: The Price of a Winter Vow

Last winter gave her a castle, a seal, and the right to demand an accounting from the steward — but not a single gentle word from her husband. Now the royal court extends the winter cycle for another year, and Astrid walks back into the castle not as a beggar, but as the keeper of the household ledger, the savior of the lower city, and the only woman whose name the dragon lord speaks without being ordered to. Darven is learning, for the first time, to ask instead of command. Inara returns from.