A Curse of Shadows and Ice

Book 1: The Shadowbound Series

by Catharina Maura

Genres: Fantasy Romance

Synopsis

From BookTok sensation and USA Today bestselling author Catharina Maura comes a spicy and enchanting Beauty and the Beast retelling featuring a cursed emperor, a princess who possesses forbidden magic, and a marriage that could save them all.

Princess Arabella of Althea is left no choice when Felix Osiris, the Shadow Emperor, threatens to overthrow her country unless she agrees to marry him.

When she learns his empire is cursed and she’s destined to set them free, they come to an agreement: help him minimize the curse’s effect on his people, and he’ll let her go.

As Felix teaches Arabella how to control her forbidden and volatile magic, her feelings for him turn from hatred to passion… and she realizes that she must break the curse, or she’ll lose him forever.

Release date: October 28, 2025

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Print pages: 304

Sample

If I could end my life right at this instant, I would. There are no weapons I haven’t tried, no poisons I have yet to consume. Without fail my body mends itself. This curse refuses to let me leave its clutches—there is no escape, not for me, and not for my people.

Despair seeps deep into my soul as I approach the tall mirror hidden in the depths of the east wing, icy winds whipping across my skin as my footsteps echo ominously in my moonlit palace. Dark magic clutches at the tarnished silver mirror, wispy tendrils of black smoke swirling around the edges, threatening to knock off the icicles that have formed around the delicate golden floral ornaments that disguise what lives within.

When I look into the mirror, it isn’t my reflection I see. Bitterness claws at me as I stare into the milky-white eyes of the seer that inhabits it. “Show me the girl.”

Pythia smiles, her expression eerie and foreboding as she slowly fades from view, her image replaced by that of a young woman sitting in the corner of a dark room, a book in her hands, something akin to wistfulness written all over her face. Long dark hair falls to her waist, and even in the dim lighting, her light-brown eyes shimmer with hope. Every time I’ve seen her, her eyes have held that same expression. Hope. It’s something that’s rarely seen in Eldiria.

The girl smiles to herself as she flips the page, and my heart squeezes tightly. She is unaware that none of her dreams will come to pass. Arabella of Althea has yet to realize that sorrow beyond anything she’s ever known is to befall her. After all, her fate is entwined with mine.

“You’re certain it’s her?”

The image blurs until once more, Pythia stands before me, her unseeing eyes keeping me pinned in place. “Only she is capable of breaking the curse,” the seer confirms. “Arabella of Althea is destined to become your empress.”

My gaze roams over her pale face, doubt taking root deep inside my chest. Seers are known to be deceptive, but I’ve come to believe that Pythia is different. The decades in torment have worn her down as much as they have me. She’s as tied to this curse as I am. Until it’s broken, she’s trapped in the mirror dimension—in this very mirror.

“She’s so young,” I murmur, my mind drifting back to Arabella. “She looks weak.”

The edges of Pythia’s dark-red lips turn up into a semblance of a smile. “She’s twenty-three, Your Excellency. Hardly a child.”

I fail to understand how Arabella of Althea could possibly set us free, but if there’s even the slightest chance, I owe it to my people to try. Perhaps I should rethink the plans that have been in the making from the moment I learned of her, three months ago. I could have her captured and brought to me before dawn. Had she been anyone else, that’s exactly what I would’ve done.

“She must come of her own free will,” Pythia reminds me, her tone sharp. I raise a brow in surprise, instantly wondering whether it’s my expression she read, or my thoughts. Fates, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was the latter.

I nod in acquiescence and take a step back, resisting the urge to question the seer further. This is the first time she’s given me any hope that this curse could be broken. It’s unfortunate that it’ll be at the cost of Arabella’s future.

Arabella of Althea.

My future wife.

She’s a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dark and bleak world. She’ll save us all, and it’ll cost her everything.

My heart feels heavy as I walk toward the palace’s atrium, the walls filled with blood-red roses—my mother’s favorite flower. The mere sight of them nearly brings me to my knees, shame and regret coursing through my dark veins. I can’t help but wonder if my mother’s spirit is looking down on me today. If so, she’s no doubt enjoying my misery. Her curse played out exactly as she wanted it to.

“So you’ll go through with it, then?”

I look up to find Elaine standing to my side, her fingers gently caressing the frozen petals of a rose, her gaze filled with longing. “I have no choice.”

She averts her face, but for a moment, I’m certain I saw a hint of anguish in her expression. “There is always a choice,” she says, her voice soft yet firm. “You will not endear yourself to her if you see this through. Love cannot bloom under threat of force.”

“Love,” I scoff. It’s a common myth among those that heard Pythia’s prophecy—they believe true love will break the curse.

A true union between the emperor and the woman fated to wield from within shall set you free.

Elaine is certain that true union must mean true love, but she should be more concerned about the wield from within part. Neither she nor I have been able to decipher those words, and time is running out. Everyone knows that magic can only be drawn and controlled from the ether, and never from within, so it isn’t a sorceress we’re looking for, nor an alchemist. If Arabella of Althea truly is the prophesied one, what does she wield? I’ve watched her for months, and I have yet to see anyone weaker than she is.

“Yes. Love,” Elaine repeats, her tone firm, unyielding.

I sigh as I raise my face to look into her eyes. I never understood how Elaine holds on to hope despite everything this curse has taken from her, from us. Why does she still believe in love so fiercely? There is nothing I won’t try, but love is not the answer to the curse that plagues us.

I force a smile for her and cup her cheek, my touch gentle. Elaine is the only one who doesn’t shirk away from the vileness that I’ve become, the only one that looks at me and sees more than just a monster. My black, vile, poisonous veins don’t faze her. She should hate me for all I’ve taken from her, but she’s never once blamed me for the effects of the curse. She’s never given up hope.

“If only that were true. If I had a choice, I’d have taken my life and freed those that were cursed alongside me.” I wouldn’t be getting married.

I was too young to comprehend my mother’s words, but I’ve heard them repeated back to me all my life. She cursed me to live in the shadows the way she always did, bathed in inescapable darkness that would encompass our entire kingdom. I was to bear witness to her destruction helplessly, and to live with the misery that lies in knowing I would never experience true love. She cursed me to live the life she did.

I didn’t know what that meant until the rolling green hills I’d known in my teenage years withered away, right along with my father. By the time I was fifteen, his body had become riddled with poisonous black veins, an unknown illness making him rot away and beg my mother for mercy each day, until he became bedridden and so delirious, the only thing he could utter was her name. Not long after, the sun set and never rose again. By the time he passed away, days short of my twentieth birthday, the entire empire had become covered in treacherous ice, making growing crops impossible. The forest had begun to close us in as though it wished to trap us, making trade equally impossible, and our people were perishing at a rate higher than I ever could have imagined.

If only that’d been the worst of it.

Because of my mother, I’ll have to douse Arabella of Althea’s flame and pull her into the darkness with me. Another sacrifice in our endless battle against this curse.

One more victim.

I hope she’s the last one.

Father will kill us if we’re caught,” I murmur, my trembling voice betraying my building anxiety.

My little sister merely lifts her index finger to her lips, amusement dancing in her eyes. “If we’re careful and quiet, Father will never find out,” Serena promises, reaching for my hand. My heart thumps wildly as she pulls me into a long-forgotten hallway that leads to a set of stairs in dire need of repair. “No one comes here,” she reassures me, “and this is the perfect vantage point. Don’t you want to find out if the rumors are true?”

I hesitate before following her up the long winding stairs, unable to cast aside the unease I’ve felt all day. I’m used to sneaking around, and even when I’m not, I’m mostly ignored, my existence barely registering to the castle staff, let alone anyone else. It’s different for Serena—she’s almost always accompanied by her personal guard and her ladies in waiting. It won’t take them long to realize she isn’t in her bedroom. Then what? I’ll be punished for getting her into trouble, no doubt. I’m always the one to blame, even if I have no hand in her mischief.

The wood creaks under my weight, and my breath hitches. “Nearly there,” Serena says, looking over her shoulder. She pulls me along the last remaining steps until we’re standing in front of a small window that overlooks the castle’s courtyard, the view stretching for miles beyond it.

“There,” she whispers, raising a trembling hand to point out the unmistakable army marching toward us, each and every soldier dressed in an unnatural shade of black. They look as inhuman as they’re rumored to be. “It’s really him.”

“The Shadow Emperor,” I whisper, my voice tinged with fear. I’d hoped the rumors were just that—rumors.

“What do you think the Shadow Emperor is doing here? Why would he come here of all places—and without notice, too,” Serena whispers, excitement slowly bleeding from her voice, leaving nothing but the same fear that courses through me.

I force a smile for my younger sister, uncertain how to answer her question truthfully, without causing her to descend into a panic. How am I to tell her that there is no positive reason for him to come here?

The Shadow Emperor is the most powerful man in the world—the last alchemist in a world that has largely outlawed every form of both magic and alchemy following the plague that spread across the world five decades ago and killed hundreds of thousands of people, yet never a single magical being. It wasn’t long before a sorceress handing out potions to aid with some of the symptoms was blamed for the plague, and then another, until they were all burned alive for fear they’d summoned the plague to rid the world of those less powerful than them, or to profit off those wealthy and desperate enough for a cure.

Though the plague is gone, they remain hunted. It is widely taught not only that they are deceptive, but that magic has begun to bring misfortune to its users and those around them. It is said that magic itself has turned against its users and cursed them, as repayment for bringing forth a plague that disrupted the natural order of life. Those who possess magic are to be reported to the authorities and condemned to a lifetime of captivity, where they can do no harm.

Just within the last decade, the Shadow Emperor has conquered most of the countries surrounding us, exploiting their natural resources and trade routes under the guise of creating magical safe havens. It’s not hard to guess what might bring him here, but it’s no easy feat explaining something like that to my sheltered sister, who knows nothing of politics, despite being only three years younger than me. I have often envied her naïveté, but today is one of those rare days that I don’t. “I dare not guess,” I tell her, being as truthful as I can be.

She leans into me as we stare out the small window in the tower. I can see the Eldirian flags waving in the distance, a delegation drawing closer to our castle with every second that passes.

Even from afar, it’s easy to recognize the Shadow Emperor’s uniform. He looks exactly as the history books portray him, his clothes darker than black ink, embroidered with gold that moves along his clothes, magically crafting the Eldirian insignia over and over again. I once heard that every bit of gold on his uniform is real gold, spun so thin that it could be used as embroidery thread, and I’m starting to believe it. A matching cloak flaps in the wind, his hood keeping his face hidden. There isn’t a single image of his face in any of our books, and I have always wondered how that could be possible. How can it be that no one has ever seen and documented his face?

“His horse looks… demonic.”

There’s fear in Serena’s voice, and I wrap my arm around her shoulder in reassurance. “The horse’s name is Sirocco. No one knows how old the Shadow Emperor is, and the same goes for his horse. They’ve always been mentioned together, and both first appeared in our history books over a hundred years ago. Sirocco has always been described as unnaturally black, with black eyes that lack any white. I thought it was an exaggeration, but it appears not.” I’ve never seen a horse like Sirocco. Rumor has it that he came straight from the underworld, alongside the Shadow Emperor.

“They’re here,” Serena whispers, her voice shaky, the confidence that led her up here depleted. She grabs my hand, and I entwine our fingers, holding on to her tightly. If anything goes wrong, I’m taking my sister and getting her far away from here.

We watch as my father and members of his court step forward to welcome the delegation from Eldiria. Even from all the way up here, I can tell that everyone is tense. But then again, how could they not be when receiving a man as unnatural as the Shadow Emperor? For years, I’ve been hearing that he’s a monster, a creature that escaped from the deepest crevices of the underworld. I can’t help but wonder if it’s true.

My heart skips a beat when I spot Nathaniel standing behind my father. Deep concern for him eradicates every hint of butterflies when the Shadow Emperor’s soldiers come to a stop and begin to dismount. “Come with me,” Serena whispers as I watch Nathaniel disappear from sight, along with the members of my father’s court. He’s begun to shadow his father lately, in preparation for his own role as one of the kingdom’s strategic advisers, so it shouldn’t surprise me to see him here. Even so, I can’t shake this niggling feeling that it would’ve been better for him to stay out of the Shadow Emperor’s sight. “They’ve entered the castle far sooner than I expected. I was hoping to see more from here,” Serena adds. I hesitate, but she pulls me along before I can object. “We can try going through the kitchens. Their corridors lead to most rooms, including the throne room. That’s probably where Father will take them, isn’t it?”

The staff gasp as we walk in, their outrage mostly reserved for my sister. They’re used to seeing me here, but never her. I’m invisible in this castle despite being a princess, but Serena is not. Where I am the one they fear and call cursed, she is the golden child. Quite literally, with her long blond hair. She’s light where I am darkness, she is grace whereas I leave destruction in my wake, and she’s a blessing, while I am without a doubt a curse on my kingdom. If I didn’t love her so dearly, I would despise her for it.

I carefully push the service door ajar, just wide enough to see, but not wide enough to draw attention. Much to my surprise, Father isn’t seated on his throne. I have never seen him receive guests the way he does today, seated at a long table alongside everyone else, and I suspect that it’s because he knows he is powerless against the Shadow Emperor. He is not even attempting to assert his authority like he usually does, and his usual pride and arrogance are notably absent today. So is Nathaniel, much to my relief.

“Who is that woman?” Serena whispers.

I glance at the people at the table, my eyes settling on the Shadow Emperor. His hood still hides his face entirely, and even his hands are covered by black leather gloves. No part of him is visible, and it only heightens my curiosity. Is he truly as hideous as the books say he is? Could he really be a monster from the underworld?

I struggle to tear my gaze away from him—it’s as though the air is buzzing around him, and my gaze remains fixed on him, as if I have no choice but to give him my full attention. My chest tightens, and the strangest sense of longing rushes through me as I draw a steadying breath. I bite down on my lip harshly and force myself to look away, my eyes landing on the woman seated next to him.

“That is Elaine,” I whisper, taking in her jet-black hair and her piercing violet eyes. She doesn’t look much older than I am, but I’ve been reading about her conquests ever since I was twelve. “She is his most trusted adviser. She commands his army in his absence, and she’s the only woman in the world to have such a high-ranking position.” It’s hard to keep the awe out of my voice. In a world where women have no rights, Elaine has defied all odds.

“She’s beautiful,” Serena sighs, and I huff. Elaine is so much more than her beauty. If what the books state is true, she’s a brilliant strategist and a powerful sorceress. I read that she once took on fifty men who raided her army camp and killed them all. She never leaves witnesses.

Before I even realize it, my gaze is drawn back to the Shadow Emperor—Theon Felix Osiris is his name, but no one ever refers to him that way. I wonder if they do in person. I can’t see his face, but I can feel the energy surrounding him. I’ve never felt such power before. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t spoken a word, yet it’s clear that he is the most powerful man in the room.

I jump when he turns his head in my direction, and for a moment I swear I can feel his gaze on me. It lasts only a moment, and a sudden sense of loss washes over me when his attention is drawn away.

“Arabella!” Serena grabs my arm, her grip tight, and I turn to look at her in confusion, only to find that part of the wooden door is on fire.

I gasp and try to use my dress to put the flames out, but that only makes it worse.

“Cursed,” I hear one of the maids mumble under her breath as she rushes toward us, trying to douse the flames with a bucket of water. Shock crashes through me as I stumble back, my eyes roaming over the disarray the kitchen is in. It’s clear the fire spread quickly, and had the maid not been there to douse the flames, Serena and I would’ve been in danger.

“Don’t listen to her,” Serena tells me. “I’ll ensure that you’ll never see her again. Come. Let’s go back to our rooms before Father finds out.” I snap out of it and let her lead me away.

“She’s right,” I whisper as we round the corner, my heart heavy. “I’m cursed. Misfortune befalls me wherever I go, Ser. I’ll be the downfall of us all.”

Serena shakes her head, but I think deep down she knows it’s true. She knows it as well as I do.

My steps echo in the empty hallway, and though I keep my chin high, I’m shaking as I walk toward the throne room. It’s never a good sign when my father calls me to this room. If Father found out I was once again nearby as an incident occurred in the castle, the consequences would be dire, especially because Serena was with me this time. She could’ve gotten hurt.

Nausea takes hold of me as my breaths become more shallow the closer I get to the wide wooden doors. The fact that there are no guards to let me in makes me even more anxious. I inhale deeply and push the doors open with trembling hands, surprised to find my father sitting in the seat he was in this afternoon, instead of on his throne. He lifts his head to look at me, and I stop in my tracks. I’ve never seen him look at me this way before, like he really sees me.

I’ve always been the daughter he despises, the one he wishes was never born. He has told me so on more than one occasion. All I am to him is a constant reminder of my mother, the sorceress he claims enchanted him. Father has ordered for her name to be stricken from our records, but he doesn’t know about the archives kept hidden in a forgotten tower. If those records are to be believed, he fell in love with her at first sight, and the two were married within a year. Every portrait that he’s hidden away and every record kept about them indicates they were happy—until the night I was born, six weeks sooner than anticipated. My mother used her healing magic to ensure I’d live, and she paid for my life with her own.

Father had her executed, certain she’d bewitched not only him but his court, too. He feared she had him under her spell, that her ultimate aim was to gain power in order to aid those just like her—magical beings who sought refuge. He was convinced she’d been funding a rebellion with his coin, and the magical attacks on our kingdom following her death only further fueled his beliefs.

To my father, I’m nothing but a shameful cursed being with cursed blood, one that is to blame for my stepmother’s illness and subsequent death. He won’t acknowledge the fact that she died of a failing liver, or that I was never alone with her and couldn’t possibly have caused her harm.

Perhaps it would’ve been easier if I’d possessed my mother’s magic, but I don’t. The only thing I was born with was a penchant for misfortune, a curse that my father continuously reminds me befalls those of magical lineages. I’ve always been taught that the endless prosecution and eventual death that follows is a fair price to pay for the harm done by those who came before me, especially since our mere existence still brings illness and misfortune to our loved ones. But how could that be? I didn’t choose to be born this way, and unlike the many sorceresses that have been burned all over the world, I don’t have powers of any kind.

“Arabella,” Father says as I curtsy, his voice soft. My heart starts to race nervously as I look at my father. He looks pained and tired. Weak. My father has never once looked regretful or anguished. According to the recordkeepers, he was impassive when he executed my mother for possessing magic, and I’m still haunted by the expressionless look on his face when I was pulled out of the lake I nearly drowned in a year ago. He’d looked at me like he’d been disappointed I survived at all. So why does he look so troubled now?

“Sit,” he tells me, pointing to the seat opposite him. I do as he asks, barely able to keep from shaking. Every fiber of my being is telling me to be terrified, and my intuition has never failed me before. Most nights I’m haunted by the memory of each form of punishment I have suffered through due to my curse. What will it be today? Will he succeed in breaking my spirit at last?

Father inhales deeply, as though he’s bracing himself. I’ve never once seen him look conflicted, but he does now. “The Shadow Emperor asked for your hand in marriage.” I stare at him, the words not quite registering. “He requested a swift ceremony. It will take place tomorrow.”

Marriage? It can’t be. Father knows. He knows Nathaniel is only a few days away from asking for my hand. Serena has been teasing me about it incessantly.

“You will do your duty as Crown Princess of Althea. This is the last we’ll speak of this matter. Your hand in marriage in return for leniency for our kingdom.”

I look up, my eyes filling with tears. “Father,” I whisper, my voice breaking. “It can’t be me he asked for. It can’t be me he wants.”

Throughout the years, this kingdom has taken everything from me. My mother. My happiness. My voice. Nathaniel is the only light in a world that’s rapidly descending into darkness. I’ve never fought for anything. I’ve performed my duties, never asking for anything in return. I endured the rumors, the whispers, the pain.

“It’s that curse of yours,” my father says, sneering. “Why else would the Shadow Emperor’s attention fall to our small kingdom?”

My eyes close as I inhale deeply. I’m well aware that the kingdom is better off without me. I am misfortune personified—yet I can’t help but try to reach for happiness. I’ve never been this close. “Please.” My voice breaks, and I know that this moment of weakness has cost me any chance I had of getting out of this engagement. My father has always punished weakness in his children and his court, and this is the ultimate punishment.

His head snaps up, and I cower in fear when he rises to his feet. “You will marry him,” he warns, his eyes filling with malice. “So help me Fates.”

I lower my head, terror and despair battling for dominance, each adding to my mounting distress. Words elude me, yet I can’t help but wonder if he’s glad to be rid of me. I’m a thorn in his side, a relic of the sorceress who deceived him. The only thing that’s keeping me alive is the fact that his blood, too, runs through my veins.

For a moment, I wonder if Serena was ever considered for this match, but then I smile wryly. Not even the power that comes from an allegiance like this is worth sacrificing a beloved daughter to a monster. They would never ask this of her. I inhale deeply as I rise to my feet and bow to my father before stepping away, well aware that changing his mind is impossible.

I’m resigned as I walk back to my room, my steps loud on the stone floor. I should’ve known better than to expect kindness and understand. . .