To Crown A Traitor (What Lies Between Stars #2)

Prologue

Wren has never truly belonged. Too fey for the humans, too human for the fey, she has spent her life walking the fragile line between two worlds, mistrusted by both.

After her mother’s death, Wren was taken into the care of her grandmother, Nubaia—a powerful and merciless fey enchantress, who raised her to be a competent assassin.

When Nubaia sends Wren to infiltrate the human castle of Caerthelan, Wren obeys, desperate to prove herself worthy of the fey at last. She is assigned to protect the recently blinded Prince Cassiel.

At first, Wren believes her mission will end in his death.

Cassiel is bitter and volatile, struggling with the loss of his sight and the life he once knew.

Their early days are marked by sharp words and mutual resentment.

Yet, Wren finds unexpected warmth in the castle: in the laughter of Cassiel’s younger sister, Princess Runara, in the friendship of fellow guard Dain, and slowly—against her will—in Cassiel himself.

Ordered by her grandmother to befriend the prince, Wren learns that it was the fey who blinded him.

Nubaia claims innocence, hinting that she knows the true culprit, and the knowledge begins to rot at Wren’s certainty.

Drawing on training from her blind fey tutor, Moira, Wren teaches Cassiel how to fight again without his sight.

Tolerance grows into trust. She trains Runara as well, and before she realises it, the royal family has welcomed her as one of their own.

The guilt is suffocating. When Wren discovers a hidden tunnel that could allow the fey to bypass Caerthelan’s iron gate, she chooses silence—her first quiet betrayal of her people.

Beyond the castle walls, Wren forms a bond with Prince Evander, Cassiel’s older brother, whose kindness and quiet humour surprise her.

They meet often at the Rosey Duckling, a tavern perched close to the Duskfen Forest, where any fey caught outside its borders face death.

There, Evander pines for a bard named Hyacinth, and Wren frequently meets her cousin Zephyr.

It’s one of the few places where her divided nature feels understood.

As Wren and Cassiel grow closer, intimacy finds its way into the quiet moments.

She reads to him from books gifted to him by his late father.

One poem, What Lies Between Stars, becomes a shared touchstone.

Cassiel speaks of his first love, Sophia, whom he pushed away after his blinding.

He tells Wren about vastren, a word from Xaden meaning ‘the one who consumes your soul’—and admits Sophia was never that for him.

Wren enjoys reading with Cassiel, but she doesn’t like to talk about his father, who killed hers.

King Leonitus was later murdered by her grandmother in revenge as Wren watched.

The fragile peace Wren and Cassiel have created together is tested when the two are attacked by bandits at a tavern Cassiel once loved.

Wren is injured; Cassiel saves her. The truth settles between them: their feelings run deeper than either will admit.

Afterwards, Wren invents a system of whistles so they can communicate wordlessly with each other.

Wren’s past, however, refuses to stay buried.

Nightmares of the fire that killed her mother plague her, and Cassiel comforts her through them, unaware that Wren believes herself responsible.

Fire is her primal source—one she has feared and suppressed ever since, limiting her magic to little more than harmless tricks.

After sharing a moonberry, Wren and Cassiel finally give in to temptation and kiss, only to pull away, agreeing to remain friends after Wren warns him that it would be a bad idea, and that she would ‘destroy’ him.

At the Rosey Duckling, Evander discovers a hidden fey healer and, to Wren’s shock, lets her escape. It is then Wren realises how deeply undeserving he is of the fate her people might have planned.

Queen Alessandra soon announces a Harvest ball. Cassiel surprises Wren with a dress, and the two share a private dinner and dance—an almost-normal happiness that cannot last.

Their world shatters during a visit to Cassiel’s former tutor, Benedict Greenvale.

In his basement, they discover a chained fey woman and evidence of horrific experiments, all in pursuit of cures—perhaps even for blindness.

Horrified, Wren alerts nearby fey by enchanting ravens.

The house is destroyed in a fiery explosion that kills Benedict and two servants.

Wren shields herself from the flames. When Cassiel is injured, she draws the fire into herself to save him—an act that nearly destroys her.

As Cassiel recovers, Wren grows gravely ill.

Unable to heal herself, she begs Cassiel to take her to Zephyr.

Confused and frightened, he does, with Dain’s help.

Wren is taken to Moonhollow, where she is forced to finally face her primal source.

By embracing the fire instead of fearing it, she unlocks her true magical potential.

Cassiel is left behind, hollow with grief and unanswered questions. He knows now that Wren is magical, though he cannot yet understand how—or why. He whistles for her day and night.

Before returning, Wren uncovers a devastating truth: it was Moira who blinded Cassiel, using a totem she still keeps.

Wren steals the totem, sick with horror, and returns to Caerthelan.

Her reunion with Cassiel is raw and emotional.

He implies he already knows what she is—and that he doesn’t care.

They sleep together at last, followed by a peaceful family dinner that feels achingly like home.

It all unravels when Zephyr is captured and imprisoned. Knowing he cannot lie and will be tortured, Wren panics. She uses magic to immobilise Cassiel and rescues Zephyr through the tunnels—unwittingly triggering Nubaia’s true plan. The tunnel becomes the fey’s invasion route.

Cassiel is found helpless by Captain Fellwood, who has always distrusted Wren.

The stolen totem is discovered, and the truth twists into something monstrous.

Cassiel is devastated that Wren used magic on him.

Queen Alessandra has no time to judge before the castle is overrun.

Only Evander believes in Wren’s innocence.

He fights at her side, but is gravely wounded protecting Runara.

Wren cannot save him. She gets Runara to safety and goes to confront her grandmother. In the chaos, Cassiel finds Evander dying. He dies in his brother’s arms, unable to clear Wren’s name.

On the battlements, Wren faces Nubaia. Queen Alessandra lies wounded nearby. When words fail, Wren acts—pushing her grandmother from the walls just as the protective shield snaps back into place. Caerthelan is saved. Wren falls too. No body is ever found.

In the aftermath, Cassiel mourns alone in Evander’s tomb. His mother has retreated into a deep, unnatural sleep, leaving Cassiel to rule. Believing himself betrayed beyond forgiveness, he vows revenge on Wren.

Unseen, a bird watches from the shadows.

Wren is alive. Still caught between worlds, still aching to belong. Cassiel was the first place that ever felt like home—and the one she shattered. As she turns toward the future, she makes herself a promise: she will make things right, no matter the cost.