The Blood Rose (Volume 1)

Princess Cyteote Arthien has it all: a loving family, a future as a queen, and a status as the fairest in the land. But not all of her life is roses and diamonds: the separation between her and her best friend Titan still rides heavily on her consience, even after six years, and the fulfillment of her horrible destiny is looming closer. On the other side of the country, Princess Scarletta Darton has grown up in the midst of darkness, evil, and despair. It is the only world she knows. Her parents are ruthless, her people are dying, and she's beginning to wonder if they'll ever accept their recluse of a princess as their queen. The two girls live very separate lives until an evil plot throws them together in a dangerous world of hatred, murder, love, and secrets. Cyteote and her sisters team up with Scarletta to rescue Cyteote's older brother from the clutches of Scarletta's mother, the notoriously evil Queen Narcissa. With the help of a few friends - the dashing foreign prince who dazzles Cyteote and the tall, reserved stable hand who steals Scarletta's heart - the girls must learn to trust each other and work together to overthrow the greatest evil in the land...even though doing so will set fire to all they hold dear.