The Maker of Spells - official site

Magic can heal bodies, but it cannot undo the past.

At 38, Juno is a respected spellwright at court. She has the heart and hand of her beloved princess… until she doesn’t.

Mere days after ending their betrothal, newly crowned Queen Artemis turns to Juno for help. She’s received an ultimatum from a rival king – her hand in marriage, or war. She needs a third option.

Juno has seen war. She’s healed the wounded and mourned the dead. So she accepts the diplomatic mission to the treacherous foreign court.

But war, it turns out, is not the only peril. Something is wrong with the natural world. Somewhere, magic is being terribly abused. Juno knows where this leads. Dragon fire. But a web of intrigue and sorcery has ensnared the realm, and no one will listen to her warnings.

No one, that is, except the court steward, an unexpectedly sweet man whose loyalty to the king makes him dangerous to trust. Juno’s twice-broken heart dare not – must not – seek the connection it craves. Her mission requires every skill she has, and every sacrifice she can make.

Can she save her world? And will she lose herself?

Trigger warning: human and animal deaths, poisoning, imprisonment