A Fire In The Sky by Sophie Jordan

The world has been devoid of witches and dragons since the big war centuries ago; the people have heard whispers of them but have never seen them.

Tamsyn is known as the whipping girl. She gets punished in place of the royals, but the royals are forced to watch. This way, the royals do not get actual marks, but the hope is that they would feel sad about their friend Tamsyn, who is like a sister, and would straighten up their behavior. Despite the terrible beatings she receives, Tamsyn likes her life. She feels loved by her sisters and even the king and queen, who treat her kindly. She is also great friends with the Captain of the Guard, Stig. He helped her realize that many other whipping children grew up to be something more; that she has a whole life to look forward to. The two became close friends while growing up. While she has the love of the royal family, many others pick on and bully her, especially because of her red hair, which traces back to the witches.

One day, visitors come to the kingdom. The head of the company is Fell, also known as The Beast of the Borderland. He has all sorts of names tied to him, but he helps keep the kingdom safe. Now, he wants payment—to make one of the princesses his wife. Because Fell is so essential to the kingdom's protection, negotiations take place. Fell feels a pull toward the people there and reminisces about the fact that he was found in a dragon den with one of the last remaining dragons. The negotiations continue, and the wedding is set to take place the next day. He will get his bride.

The king and queen visit Tamsyn and tell her that, since she is basically a daughter to them, she will take the place of their true daughters and marry Fell. She has no choice in the matter. That night, Stig comes to her room and tries to convince her to run away with him. They have a big fight, throwing nasty words at each other, and leave on bad terms. The next morning, the queen comes to get Tamsyn ready. The wedding takes place in their room, where they are also expected to take part in their first bedding in front of others, with Tamsyn veiled. Her goal is to keep herself hidden until it is too late and Fell is already married to her.

The wedding takes place. Even though Tamsyn is afraid, Fell makes the bedding gentle and focuses on her. But as soon as it is complete, he removes the veil and sees her hair. They had briefly met the day before, and he knows she is not a princess. The king and queen claim that she basically is, and it is already too late. Fell is furious and decides he will do all he can to exact revenge on the king—even using Tamsyn as a pawn in his game. The two begin their journey back to his land, where he refuses to speak to or acknowledge her.

Meanwhile, Stig is battling with his feelings for Tamsyn. He tried to stop the wedding, and now that Fell has her, he wants to go and get her back.

Tamsyn struggles with the journey, but she does not want to seem weak in front of her brooding new husband, so she stays silent. For a couple of weeks, they ride all day while Tamsyn simply eats and sleeps. One day, her legs become so chafed and rubbed raw that when she gets off the horse, she collapses. Fell comes over to her, asking what is wrong, and sees how badly she is hurt. He orders everyone to stop for the night and set up camp so she can rest. Fell brings in a healer, who also happens to be a witch. She gives Tamsyn a salve to heal her and says she knows what Tamsyn is. The next morning, Fell sees that her injured thighs are completely healed, which leads to an intimate moment between the two.

Now that Tamsyn is healed, they continue toward Fell’s home. But Tamsyn wants a moment alone in the forest. She wanders a little too far, and one of Fell’s soldiers follows her and starts to attack her. In response, Tamsyn begins to feel a change, and fire bursts out of her mouth. Meanwhile, Fell goes to find her but instead finds her clothes shredded and one of his men charred. Before he can investigate further, a dragon bursts from the forest. Fell believes that his wife has been taken by the dragon. He sends letters to nearby kingdoms, asking them to be on the lookout for it.

Tamsyn has now discovered she can turn into a dragon, but she is stuck in that form. She manages to find the witch who helped her originally. The witch helps her change back into her human form and come up with a plan. Tamsyn wants to find more dragons, realizing she cannot stay in the human world much longer.

Stig, the Captain of the Guard, has just received notice that Tamsyn was taken by a dragon. He does not believe it. He convinces the king and queen to send an army to find Fell, whom they now believe has killed Tamsyn and made up the dragon story.

Fell is frantic, searching everywhere for Tamsyn. He feels a pull to find her—he does not know why, he just knows he must. He and a few of his men begin their journey. Along the way, they encounter a beautiful woman. It is Tamsyn. Except she is incredibly alluring and convinces all the men to worship her, including Fell.

Tamsyn, trying to get away from Fell, runs right into him. He and a few of his men are worshipping a woman—a goddess—who has taken on the appearance of Tamsyn and other women. Tamsyn stops the goddess and snaps Fell back to clarity. Overjoyed that she is there, they continue the final days to his home.

At Fell’s home, he and Tamsyn sleep in the same bed, but on their first night, Tamsyn accidentally breathes out a bit of smoke. Fell believes she bit him. Tamsyn becomes afraid of her powers and refuses to be intimate with Fell, worried she might hurt him. Fell takes the rejection hard but continues to sleep in her bed every night, hopeful he can change her mind. A few weeks later, he almost succeeds. They are about to share a kiss when horns sound—Stig and his army have arrived.

Stig calls for a fight and demands Fell’s head. But when Tamsyn arrives and shows her face, he is surprised and happy to see her alive. Stig and Fell decide to strategize about the dragon and what to do next.

Stig steals Tamsyn away for a ride in the forest. Tamsyn decides to share her secret: she is a dragon. He does not believe her. Trying to comfort her, he kisses her. Fell arrives and rips Stig away from her, and the two men start to fight. Tamsyn bites her own lip and shows them her blood—shimmering and purple. Fell demands answers, but Stig raises his sword and points it at her. Fell realizes what Tamsyn is and starts to fight Stig, telling her to run. She refuses. Instead, she transforms into a dragon. Fell delivers a killing blow to Stig, but Tamsyn stops him before it goes further and invites Fell to ride on her back.

Fell realizes that Tamsyn has only just discovered her ability, but he still trusts her. Unfortunately, he slips off her back and falls. Tamsyn cannot save him. As he falls, Fell feels a change—he transforms into a dragon.

The two encounter a few other dragons but leave them and find a cave. They change back into their human forms and share an intimate moment. Tamsyn notices that Fell’s hair has changed color. After their moment, a few dragons arrive and shift. Tamsyn is surprised. One of the figures who transforms looks exactly like Fell. He looks confused at Tamsyn, but turns to Fell and says, “Hello, brother.”