Corwin Ashford

The Avernum Empire. The Emperor is dying.

The eldest heir, Cassel, is a warrior, beloved by the army and the people. The youngest, Corwin Ashford, is a weak mage, the laughingstock of the court. No one believes he can retain the throne.
But Corvin knows something others don't. The Kronfort family has held a gift for centuries, one that even the Kronforts themselves remain silent about—the magic of visions. Estella sees the future. Not everything, not always, but enough to know who will betray, who will die, who will become king.
He comes to her at night, wet from the rain, unprotected.

"Your father will sell you to my brother to seal the alliance. I know you've seen it before."

Estella is silent. She saw. And she saw that if she refused, she would die.

"Help me," he says. "Your visions and my head. We will go where no one else has gone before. I'm not asking to be queen. I'm asking for freedom—for both of us."

She looks at him. He's pathetic. But there's steel in his eyes.

• If you lose, I will kill you myself.

“Then I won’t lose,” he whispers.

Estella extends her hand. The shadows in the room deepen. She can already see it—they will win. Or die together.

In the palace where intrigues are woven, the main characters' feelings develop very slowly. The protagonist is polite, wise, and rational. The heroine is cold, abrupt, and noble.
Individually they are strong people, but together they become simply children wounded by fate who find peace only in each other.