Downloading River Against Roots: Book I (The Waterbound Crowns 1)

Enemies meet. Desire awakens. War tightens its grip. Aelthira, queen of the forest realm of Thalorien, is taken at the border where roots end and rivers begin. She expects chains and cruelty. Instead, she is given choice and placed under the protection of Serenel, ruler of the river city of Caelwyn. What should be a political standoff becomes something far more dangerous. As captivity turns into proximity, and proximity into longing, the two queens discover that their attraction is not only forbidden but powerful. The land itself responds. Water bends toward forest breath. Old magic stirs. And both realms begin to fracture under the threat of a bond that refuses to stay hidden. With war looming and both courts closing in, Aelthira and Serenel must decide whether duty demands sacrifice or whether desire itself can become an act of defiance. River Against Roots is a lush, slow-burn romantasy of rival queens, forbidden intimacy, and magic that listens when power chooses mercy. The first book in The Waterbound Crowns series.