BloodBound Crown
His father's justice was harsh but never without cause.
Now, looking at the girl on the platform, Kael wondered if he'd been wrong.
"This girl—" Grayson reached out and tilted her face upward with one finger under her chin, forcing the crowd to see the delicate bone structure, the aristocratic features beneath the bruises, "—is Lyra Vale. Last living heir to a bloodline that once ruled the western territories before the unification. Her blood is as pure as they come. Ancient. Powerful. *Valuable*."
*Lyra.*