Well-Lit Shadows

"If I write the play the queen demands, then it will result in more war, more hope for a future found at the tip of a sword. My people will continue to be slaughtered. If I don't write the play, then I will be slaughtered. Either choice results in more senseless death.

Unless-

Unless I write the play and write of hope, but a different hope than the kind the queen spoke of. Hope that will inspire conversation, hope that maybe the Hedeon citizens can be more than pigs raised for slaughter, hope that this war no longer has to be their legacy. It will, most likely, still result in my death, but at least it won't be senseless."

Damira Letsov is comisioned to write a play by the Queen of Hedeon, the only problem is that Damira is secretly a spy from Reine, Hedeon's enemy. Damira must decide if she will write the play of hope and nationalism the queen wants, betraying her own kingdom, or if she will have to face the consequences of disobeying the crown.

A queen's commission. An artist's heart. A prince's stratagem. Which will bend first in the shadow of war?