The Sand Prince
The Demon Door Series Book 1
Genre: Fantasy
Tropes: Epic Fantasy, Adventure, Sword & Sorcery, Outcast/Reluctant Hero, Damsel in Distress Turns Warrior, Morally Grey Characters, Slow Burn, Portal, Royal Intrigue, Dark and Ancient Magic, Magic Book
Heat: Open Door, Medium/High Spice
Two worlds. Bound by magic. Divided by a Door. On the barren, war-ravaged demon world of Eriis, the fierce queen Hellne fights to keep her people alive and her son Rhuun’s heritage a secret. On the green and gentle human world of Mistra, demons have faded into myth. Only a handful of old men and fanatical children still guard The Door between the worlds.
Different and shunned by his demon kin, Rhuun finds refuge in a book that tells of a human world of water and wonder. Forced by his mother’s enemies to flee Eriis, he finds himself trapped on the other side of The Door in the very place he has read and dreamed about—Mistra. Chained to the deadly whims of a child who guards The Door, Rhuun must balance serving and surviving, even at the risk of exposing his true identity.
Riskiest of all is his task of kidnapping an infuriating young woman who is about to find out that the demons of Eriis are much, much more than just an old bedtime story.
Excerpt
The Great Gorda River swung south out of the mountains and, having expended its energy on the downhill trip, turned itself into the Flat Gorda. Despite its new name it was actually at its widest, exchanging the cold peaks for the calmer midlands. With the great walls of the Guardhouse high above, you would need a good boat and the better part of an afternoon to cross the Flat Gorda, and hopefully a pole or a net, because the fish were fat and the water clean. After passing through farms and fields, the river turned east and changed its name again, this time to the Little Gorda. At this point you could exchange your boat for a pair of boots, because even at its outskirts, Mistra’s builders had loved their bridges. Once inside Mistra City proper, it branched out in every direction, mostly little brother and sister canals seeking to rejoin each other on the road to the sea, but a few finally gave up, either too shallow or too narrow to find their way. If you kept your boots, you’d need them to follow the track of one such nameless canal past the Greenleaf Gate. If you were looking for a leaf or something green you’d best look elsewhere because there was nothing to see but the damp backs of buildings, slimy retaining walls, aged cobbles and one huge wrought iron gate. The lights from the house it protected were dim and distant at the top of a winding path.
At the bottom of the path and much closer to the canal than she would have liked, Lelet va’Everley—Lelly to her friends—was having what those friends referred to as a “High Snit.”
On a normal evening, her driver gathered her at the front door, which, if she wasn’t wrong, was the exact purpose of a front door. So why, she asked herself again, had she been rerouted to the Greenleaf Gate? She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d come this way. Certainly the maid had been supremely apologetic in relaying his last minute change of plans, but Per would have to answer for this. The smell, for one thing. And there was mud on her shoes—her white shoes. She held her wrap up out of the dirt—that would be all she needed, stains and who knows what on silk, she’d have to ask Father for a new one. Maybe she’d do that anyway….
She thought she heard the moaning gasp of water brakes some distance away in the damp darkness. ‘Crying brakes are happy brakes’, she’d heard Per say that often enough, along with a million other little sayings—‘A horse can tell,’ for instance. Tell what? she’d always wondered. That she was going to be late and with dirty shoes and the smell of canal rot in her hair? And she was almost out of cigarettes— less than half a stack left. She abhorred the habit of twisting off the lit end and saving the rest for later but it was better than running out. She tucked the stub end neatly into the shiny little metal pocket.
She definitely heard a horse snort. It sounded annoyed.
“Finally.” She continued composing her little outraged speech, and plucked up the hem of her white silk dress. “How many of us will have mud on our gowns tonight, Per? Is that what is done now, Per?” Spattered with mud wasn’t festive but she was hoping it might turn out to be funny, particularly if Per tried to argue with her. Everyone would be wearing white tonight for the Quarter Moons party, but she imagined she’d be the only one with muddy satin slippers, white, black, and brown.
The trap had stopped well out of sight. She hissed between her teeth. “By the Veil, Per, you’ll have to carry me on your back.” She peered through the murk. Outside the half circle of smudgy torchlight at the back gate, it was quite dark. She took a step. Something breathed quietly in the darkness. Was that the horse? She took another step, two more, and walked into a wall. The wall moved, and before she could scream she found herself looking at her own feet, as she had been swung over a shoulder. One of her shoes lay shining and dainty on the muddy stones.
“Don’t scream, wench. It will go worse for you.”
Instantly she screamed long and loud, echoing between the leaning brick walls.
Did he just call me a wench?
She heard the wall? Person? Kidnapper? mutter something she couldn’t understand—something about a Duke? He began to half-run into the dark alleyway, bouncing her head off his back. Her screams attracted the attention only of the rats.
My shoe! Someone will find it. She kicked off the other and tore at her dress, shredding the stiff little white satin roses from the fragile bodice. She could see them like stars on the black path, receding into the darkness.
She smelled the horse before she saw it, and struggled to twist around and face her captor.
“Please,” she said quietly. “My family has money. You must know that. Whatever you’ve been paid, they will pay more. Just set me down and I’ll walk away. No one will know. Let me go.”
In response, the dark figure lifted her over the side of a cart.
She felt herself falling as if from a great height. He is tall. She thought. He won’t let me go.
Her head struck the side of the cart as she landed and then it got very dark and quiet.
What People Are Saying
Full Series
Two Worlds. One Love. A Door That Should Never Have Been Opened.
In a universe split by magic and shadow, a hidden Door connects two realms: the war-scorched demon world of Eriis, and the peaceful, myth-drenched lands of Mistra. For centuries, the Door remained sealed—its existence dismissed as legend on one side and guarded with blood and fire on the other.
But when Prince Rhuun, born of both worlds and belonging to neither, is forced through the Door, fate ignites a chain of events that will challenge empires and awaken ancient hungers. On Mistra, Rhuun finds an unlikely ally—and irresistible enemy—in Lelet va’Everly, a sharp-tongued heiress who never believed in demons until one landed on her doorstep.
As forbidden love grows between them, the fragile barrier between worlds begins to crack. Old enemies rise. Secrets burn. And betrayal, both human and demon, may cost them everything.
Magic built the Door.
Love opened it.
But some Doors were never meant to be breached.
