The River Priestess

Davan is a scholar with a folio and a plan. He's going to document the Kenara — an ancient festival where mourning and sensuality intertwine — observe everything, participate in nothing, and return to Nalanda Academy with the thesis of a lifetime.

His professor laughed when he promised not to participate.

This year, something is wrong. The festival is supposed to be about sharing, but the woman chosen to lead the ritual draws everyone to her. The sacred balance collapses. The River Priestess becomes everyone's obsession.

But Davan said he would observe. And his stubborn refusal to participate might be the only thing standing between an ancient hunger and the world it wants to consume.

River Priestess is a standalone novella set in the world of the Eranor Tales — where desire is sacred, honesty is the real fantasy, and the scholar who keeps his distance may be the most important person at the festival.