Cover for Lady of the Fire, book 5 in the Bonded Realms series of no spice fantasy romances by Regan Allen, showing a red-haired woman in a velvet dress standing next to a bearded man in a white tunic, against the background of snowy mountains and a dragon

Lady of the Fire, #5 in the Bonded Realms Series

Coming January 2026, from Edwards and Williams

Will a marriage of convenience secure her power and keep her secret safe?

Against all odds, clever Dulciya Lutelyn succeeded her late father as head of the Miners Guild, second only to the Queen herself in power. But with war brewing to the west and unrest among Dulci's miners, keeping her position will be challenging. When the wildwood warrior who rules the mountains that hold her mines turns up at her door, requesting her aid, she sees an ally strong enough to shore up her support and proposes a marriage of convenience. She will help him convince her people to join the fighting; he will help her convince her miners that she is someone to be respected. If she keeps him at arm's length, he'll never discover the secret that would destroy everything her father built.

The seer foretold that the recent widower Kadan Asanji, Khan of the High Peak, will be key to protecting his people and winning this unjust war so long as he weds again despite his shuttered heart. He was to find a lady of the fire. Between Dulci's fiery red hair and determination to protect the miners, she might fit that description. Yet there's something more simmering inside her that calls to him. Could she have a power that could save them all?

With enemies drawing nearer on all sides, Dulci and Kadan must learn to open their hearts and trust each other. For a conflagration is coming, and only a lady of the fire and her mate will be able to stop it.

Tropes: marriage of convenience, she has the power, fish out of water, dragons

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A Little Taste

Dulci remained smiling until her men had disappeared around the bend. Then she stepped closer to Kadan. "I have a bargain for you."

He nearly snorted. These Strangers and their bargains! But he would not add to the disrespect shown her.

"I'm listening," he said, feet settling into the warrior's stance.

She tipped up her chin to meet his gaze. "You should marry me."

Had the mountain just dumped a glacier on his head? Kadan recoiled. "What!"

"You should marry me," she repeated as if she thought he hadn't heard her. "I could use someone with your commanding presence at my side, at least until I know the guild members respect me."

She did not know what she asked. Among his people, the woman dictated where a couple would live. Dulci Lutelyn would never surrender her spired city for a hota in the mountains. If he asked to stand at her side as her mate, he would have to leave his people to his cousin Timor's dubious leadership. Kadan would have to bury himself in stone for the rest of his life!

"I am not the man you need," he told her, shaking his head to emphasize the point. "You want one of your people, someone who will bring you glory with your court."

"I'm quite capable of bringing myself glory," she assured him primly. "What I need right now is someone who can overpower objections. You do that far better than I do."

Because he'd had years of experience. When his father had died, eight cousins had vied with him to be khan. He had defeated them all in armed combat. That display of strength along with Altani's support had won him the approval of the Great Khan. And though his cousins had groused from time to time, the stories of Kadan's prowess had kept them in check. Left to their own devices, they would tear the High Peak apart.

"There must be someone else," he tried. "Someone you favor. Surely a lady of your beauty and position has attracted suitors."

"None as suitable as you," she insisted. She set a hand on his arm, and he was surprised to feel warmth even through his coat and tunic. "Think of the advantages to you, Kadan. You would have a khanna, and no one could force you out of your position. I would have an incentive to keep paying for your tribe's escort through the mountains. I could even increase what we pay as we discover more veins. And once I have earned the miners' respect, I could advocate for you with the monarch."

Every word was truth, truth that would protect his tribe, even build their future. Still, he could not trust the offer. "How can I be khan when you would likely have us live in Lutelan?" he demanded. "Among my people, it is the woman who chooses which tribe to join, where to live."

She dropped her hand. "You'd only have to come to court on occasion. You could stay in the mountains or at Gathering or wherever you prefer. I would stay in Lutelan."

A mate who was never around? "What sort of bonding is that?" he asked, frowning.

"We call them marriages of convenience," she explained. "We enter into it as a contract, with no expectation of love or physical intimacy on either side."

She doomed them to a cold life. This was not the way of the Khorrum. Men and women saw each other as partners, true, but love was expected, courted, heralded! Without physical intimacy, there would be no children, no heirs for the family.

And winter nights would be long.

No. This was not the way to live. Surely he could find a lady of his own people willing to relocate to the snows. Even among his tribe there were warriors and Gifted who might look on him with favor now that he was no longer bonded to Altani.

The seer's prophecy echoed in his mind, as clear as a trumpet from his kryal, Maccha.

Within the next moon, the Creator will send you a khanna you cannot imagine. A lady of the fire. Embrace her.

Marya Randene was the first seer in generations. Everything she'd prophesied had come true or was in the process of coming true. If he reckoned correctly, tomorrow marked the end of the first moon since she'd spoken to him in Ulyn Bashir, the city of the Great Khan. Kadan had assumed she'd meant a Fire-Kin, someone with the gift of being able to manipulate the flames. That skill would be a great benefit to his people. None would argue with his choice to bond again so soon after Altani's death if his mate was a Fire-Kin. Unfortunately, he'd never heard of a Stranger with that gift.

Could the seer instead have been referring to Dulci's fiery hair? Or the fire he'd glimpsed burning inside her from time to time, her drive and determination? Could the Creator have meant the young potentate of the Miners Guild for him? Kadan had already had one love, after all. Perhaps it wasn't meant that he have another. Perhaps it would be his brother's children or the children of one of his sisters who would lead the High Peak when he was gone.

And accepting a place at Dulci's side would solve a number of problems, as she had mentioned. As khan, he was used to making decisions quickly and decisively. He could see the potential for his people and hers. The cost to him, in the end, did not matter.

He knelt before her, and her eyes widened.

"Lady Dulciya of the Lutelyn Family," he intoned, "Potentate of the Miners Guild, would you do me the honor of allowing me to stand by your side through life?"

Connected Books

Lady of the Fire is the fifth book in the Bonded Realms series. The others include

And learn more about Princess Lili in Princess of the Shadows, a special prequel to the Bonded Realms series, available only to newsletter subscribers.

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