The Kept - B.d. Land

Nerys has never been much of a fighter but, to earn the gold needed to save her gravely ill brother, she sacrifices everything and becomes an apprentice in the Esidiem-an arena where small-scale battles are waged instead of war between the four kingdoms. After years of grueling training, her initiation as a Kept warrior is disrupted by the arrival of her kingdom's cruel crown prince, Gereon, who reveals that Nerys is heir to a rival kingdom.

Forced into a betrothal that neither of them wants, Nerys must rely on her wits and willpower to resist the deeply conflicted, but powerful, feelings growing between them while waiting for her chance to escape. When a challenger intervenes to steal Gereon's throne, and Nerys's heart, she finds herself at the center of a dangerous power struggle that could change the fate of the four kingdoms forever.