Marryn Yarrow has trained her entire life to die.

For as long as she can remember, Marryn has been memorizing herbal remedies and honing her medicinal magic for the chance to wither away on the throne of Winstow. In one fortnight, she will swear in as the next queen, sworn to give her life force to heal her people from the Sherwood Stillness. Magic doesn't come free, and therefore, neither does treatment. More folk are falling ill, and fewer can afford care. The masked leader of the Foxes, known only as "Hood," has been stealing from Winstow's wealthiest to keep its poor alive, and an old, outlawed folktale predicts there's only one way to stop the Stillness for good: end the line of queens before the cycle begins again. Hood’s only job is to prevent this one from taking the throne…

…and Marryn was going to make damn sure he did.

She’s read every forbidden fairy tale. Dying doesn't scare her nearly as much as becoming the villain. What she didn’t plan for was the so-called legendary marksman to miss. And she definitely didn’t plan on a charming duke’s enigmatic presence to start fogging her mind with memories every day after, making her second-guess the death she'd already chosen. When an arrow cuts through the mist, offering a way out she never considered — one where evil isn't slain, but given better choices — Marryn will have to decide if she's not just willing to die for her people's cause, but actually willing to start living for it.