Beyond Androva: Book Four 📚

“I’d always thought the hard part would be falling in love with someone who loved me back. I never considered what came next.”— Averine Vernier
Today’s blog post is all about Xytovia. Bound in Magic, the fourth and final book in the Beyond Androva series, will be released later this month! 
Averine’s POV was a challenge at first because she’s not a magician, and the evolution of Xytovia as a blended society was way more complicated than I expected. I also discovered there was a lot more to her and Kellan’s story than the snapshot I wrote in Lost in Magic. 
As always, there is a short prologue to introduce a little context, then Averine takes over as the narrator. I hope you’ll enjoy finding out what happened to her as much as I did!
The pre-order for the eBook (21st October 2023) will be on Amazon very soon, and I’ll update this post with a link when it’s available. The price will remain at £0.99/€0.99/$0.99 until the release date.
Update ☺Amazon UK Bound in Magic
Amazon US Bound in Magic
The description and the prologue are below. Thank you very much for visiting my blog today, and if you decide to read Bound in Magic, I hope you enjoy it!
Divided loyalties. Stolen magic. Some bonds are made to be broken.
Averine’s biggest regret is thinking she could ever trust her father. On her seventeenth birthday, he forces her to accept a toxic gift. Mage-sickness. Creating a cure will bring him the power he craves, and he’s perfectly willing to risk his daughter to get it.
Trapped inside a Dimension Cell while her life hangs in the balance, Averine continues her alchemy training and hopes for a second chance. The last thing she expects is to receive a visitor. Kellan is a prisoner too, though his circumstances are nothing like hers. After a difficult start, they form a magical bond that will change their lives forever.
Outside of the cell, Xytovia is rebuilding after the long years of segregation. But not everyone believes magicians and cotidians are equal. Averine and Kellan only care about escaping. They don’t know the dangers waiting for them in the real world. Bonds can be exploited. And the consequences can be deadly.


Prologue

(Phidiom, Day 99, Year 6015)

“You puton quite a performance.” The woman’s voice was clipped and angry.

“Why, thankyou.”

“This isn’tfunny. We need a magician, and we need them now. Nothing else matters, and you… you let them leave. How could you be so careless?”

“Yes. I letthem leave.” Her companion gave no outward sign that he was offended. “All ofXytovia would have noticed the disappearance of Gentus and Vidian Bavois. Farbetter that they return to Vayl believing us weak and scared.”

“And sowhat if they disappeared?” she said. “Accidents happen, no matter how importantyou are.”

“Be reasonable,”he said. “They had three wardens with them. It was not the opportunity youthink it was.”

She madean impatient sound. “I don’t care if there were ten wardens. What about Rosa?What about my daughter? Her life is the one that matters. We should have takenthem and deactivated the mage-glass they used to get here. It takes a week tocross the ocean. That’s plenty of time to establish a cover story.”

“No,” hesaid, shaking his head. “The whole point of this plan is to keep it hidden. A searchparty from Vayl is the last thing we need. And closing the mage-glass doesn’t onlykeep people out. It keeps us in.”

The twoalchemists looked at each other. Friends since childhood, they had similar lightbrown hair and hazel eyes and were often mistaken for siblings. His expressionremained patient while hers was pinched with frustration.

“How canyou be so calm?” she said. “The magical core we stole from Maxia Jonville isalmost gone, and I can’t—”

Her voicebroke. She took a steadying breath. “Rosa will die without a new core to bondwith.”

“She won’tdie,” said the man. “Have a little faith.”

“In what?In what?”

He reachedfor her hand. “Taking Gentus and Vidian Bavois would have bought us some time. Iadmit that. But it would also have attracted a great deal of unwanted attention.And their force fields are damaged. A damaged forced field is likely to be a temporaryand imperfect solution. It’s no different to the Jonville girl.”

“Imperfectis the way things are, thanks to the war and the Poison Spells. We have nochoice.”

“I’m notso sure about that.”

“What doyou mean?”

“GentusBavois came here looking for something,” he said. “Looking for someone.”

“Who?”

“A magicianwith an undamaged force field.”

The woman’sgaze sharpened. “And? Is it another far-fetched story, or do we think thismagician actually exists?”

Hesmiled. “Based on the bottle of unfiltered lumien Gentus waved in front of my face,I believe they do.”

She returnedhis smile slowly, incredulously. “We have to find them before he does.”

“I wouldn’tworry. He’s barely competent, and you know how the laws of magic work. One undamagedforce field can ignite an untold number of new sparks. Gentus will never containthem all.”

She nodded.“And we only need one force field. One magician to save Rosa’s life.”

“Incorrect,”he said.

“What doyou mean?”

The warmthin his expression vanished. “Have you forgotten the original plan? Phidiomneeds lumien.”

“No,”she said. “I haven’t forgotten. But after what happened to Rosa…”

“A temporarysetback,” he said. “Her recovery will prove that my procedure works, and then wecan expand.”

When hisfellow alchemist did not reply, he leaned closer and lowered his voice.

“This isan opportunity to finally eliminate our dependency on magicians. No more givingaway our best sea silks and jewels in exchange for scraps of lumien. We’ll befree.” A pause. “My commitment to pursuing that opportunity hasn’t changed. Nomatter the cost.”

He raisedhis eyebrows. “I hope I can still count on your support.”

The wordshung in the air for a few seconds, as he waited for the woman’s reply. She swallowed.“Yes. Yes, you can.”

He pattedher hand. “Excellent.”