All her life Krea has worked to prove she’s valuable enough to not be abandoned—for a second time. She’s earned a position as Malkin’s next baker, plus the village blacksmith, Evan, has asked for her hand in marriage. But on the evening of their first betrothal dinner, it all starts crashing down.

       She’s publicly rejected by Evan, who disappears without a trace. The next night, she's cursed by a mage when she refuses to marry him. The villagers and her adopted family rally around her, but all she can see are her failures. Determined not to be a burden, she leaves her village for a trading city across the border.

       She’ll find a way to break the curse . . . or never go home.