The Lord, His Monster, and Their Lady

After his first romance ended in bitterness and anger, and his disastrous first marriage ended in the death of his wife, Lord Jaguar of Honor has no interest in a third attempt at love. But he is the sole surviving member of his House. It is his duty to wed, and he is not a man to shirk from an obligation, no matter how unpleasant.

The daughter of a disgraced traitor, saved from ruin only by the grace of their highnesses, Lady Raindrop of Endurance has no romantic expectations of marriage. Her qualifications for a husband: suitable age and wealth, of a House that will make a good ally for Endurance.

"You know, I am far more than fortunate! I am the sister of a Great Lord who loves me, my House is sound, I am sought after by an attractive, wealthy lord who is not much older than I am, and -- let us not forget -- I have Cantara's Very Best Puppy!" Raindrop said. "Do you have any idea how good all of this looks to my twelve-year-old self who was engaged to a man forty years her senior and watching her world tilt towards a doomed and treacherous rebellion?"

But a monster hunts in the forests of Honor, and rumors swirl around the death of the Brooding Lord's first wife. Did Lord Jaguar murder his own wife for her failure to provide him with the requisite heir? Or did his former lover kill her, in a jealous rage?

"Is there any evidence of this?" Raindrop asked. "These are the lowest quality rumors. It's as if they put no thought into them at all."

Or was there some other sinister force at work --

-- one which might threaten Raindrop herself?