Arali is a goatherd. That is, until a Fairy Godmother mistakes her for the fairest in the village and taps her to fulfill a Destiny she doesn't want. You see, after the last White Wizard Artharno got herself killed, her sentient Tower full of magical items is vacant and the Godmothers want someone they can control running the place.
Red is the heir to the feared and seemingly invincible necromancer, the Witch King. Raised in the martial arts since birth and possessing blood that can reanimate the dead, all Red wants to do is open a cute little bakery somewhere. So he steals a little treasure, gets Daddy's general Pardok turned into a crocodile, and runs away from home. The town of Swordsward seems perfect. Except one problem. Red doesn't actually know how to bake.
By way of manticores, evil armies, Fairy Godmothers, and a Bake-Off showdown, the two must overcome the manifest forces of narrative and expectation that would have them rule the world, instead of getting through a day with a delicious slice of cake.
Caitlin Rozakis is the New York Times bestselling author of Dreadful. After graduating from Princeton, she has had too many career changes, including mechanical engineering (cut short after the murderous robot incident), finance (amortizing tequila receivables is not as fun as drinking tequila), the American Museum of Natural History (who knew emus had birth certificates?), and a number of marketing positions, some at companies you may have even heard of. She lives in Jersey City with her husband and son. Visit her online at www.caitlinrozakis.com.