Starchaser by R. M. Gray

Here is a summary with spoilers for Starchaser by R. M. Gray 

Seventeen-year-old pirate Aster Oberon’s life changed a few weeks ago. Her friend and prince Titus is actually her old pirate captain, Shade. On top of that, the Nightweaver who captured her heart, Will, she feels betrayed by. She woke up on their ship, now having to face both boys and a new challenge. Aster has been cursed, and in a few short weeks she will become an Underling, a creature forced to serve the evil Morana. The boys believe that if they can get Morana’s blood, then she will be cured. The plan is to have Titus bring her back to the castle as a hero, so she can be knighted as a Bloodknight, thus giving her full access to the castle to search and spy for any signs of Morana.

Morana is ruining all of their lives. This mission is personal. Not only is it Aster’s curse, but Morana also has Aster’s brother Owen under her spell. Titus believes that his fiancée Leo is being possessed by her, and that is how they will actually get the blood of Morana. Aster’s powers are going to be important in sensing Morana, and hopefully being able to tell if it really is Leo. Titus also promises Aster that he will give her and her family free passage out of his kingdom and to a place that is safe for humans if she helps with this mission.

Aster is on the ship under the pretense that she is Shade’s prisoner, so they continue with that ruse. Though to get out of it, they create a little ruse where Will stabs a fake Shade, taking over the ship and letting all three get out and onto a train taking them back to the castle. While on the train, the two boys leave to go find some information, leaving Aster in the care of some guards, but her guards get knocked out and she gets attacked by her own brother Owen. His parting words to her are that Will is lying to her and to not trust him. When Will and Titus show up, they are angry that she was injured and decide to give her more protection once they get back to the castle. Upon arrival at the castle, they let her go see her family very quickly, but they need to go start their plan. While with her family, she finds out that Will also got cursed. He will be turning into an Underling even sooner than her, making the mission even more urgent than before.

Titus brings Aster into the castle, and she is introduced to the king and queen again, though this time not as a pirate but as a hero. They want her to kill someone to show her loyalty, but Titus covers for her and kills the person for her, giving Aster the reminder that Titus is a bloodthirsty monster and she needs to be careful around him. The introductions turn into a dinner, where she is then seated next to the princess Leo. This is done on purpose to see if she can sense Morana. But Aster is not able to sense anything, and she isn’t sure if it is because Morana knows they are looking for her or if it is because Leo is not Morana, though Titus seems convinced that Leo really is being possessed. Also during the dinner, the talk turns to pirates, and to solidify that Aster is one of them now, she is forced to say that anyone found to be a pirate should have their throats slit, and she feels like she is betraying her people.

Aster has a little fight with both boys over the next few days. She feels like once again they are withholding information and not being honest with her. She asks for some room away from them. That night, she wakes from a nightmare to have Owen trying to strangle her. He tells her that her family will suffer if she doesn’t leave the castle by the end of the month. When she goes to tell Will the next morning about the attack, he doesn’t believe her, and her case doesn’t help when she doesn’t have any bruising or other marks.

It is Aster’s night. She is officially being sworn in as a Bloodguard, though to prove she is one of them, she still has to kill someone. They bring in a woman, and as Aster is debating, she finds that the woman is possessed and feels no need to feel bad about killing her. The people, king and queen included, now see her as a hero and give her the new name, Shadow Slayer, the new prized soldier.

After that night, she is brought down to a meeting with her mother, where her mother reveals that she is actually a leader for the secret rebel group. Her mother begins to tell all of her children about the rebels and invites them all to help, because the time is coming when things are going to get bad.

Aster wants one more meeting with Leo to figure out if she truly is being possessed by Morana, and after another day with her, she decides she is not. But she learns that Leo is a really sweet and misunderstood girl. Leo and Titus were once childhood best friends. She doesn’t want to marry him, but ever since the engagement, he won’t even talk to her, and it has made her sad. Leo claims that he has changed so much that she believes he is the one being controlled by Morana, or at least Morana has a good hold on him. She worries that if Aster can’t figure out who it is, then on their wedding day, Leo won’t hesitate to kill Titus.

Leading up to the festivities, Aster spends more time with both Will and Titus, and she has feelings for both of them. Will actually proposes to her, though she never gives him an answer because she has a panic attack when he asks. Titus and she spend really nice nights together.

The wedding is getting closer, as it is the day that she and Will will turn thanks to their curse. Aster believes that the person Morana has possessed is Eliza, though Leo is still convinced that it is Titus. But after a really tender moment that Aster and Titus have, Aster rules it out again.

The morning of the wedding, everyone agrees that it is Eliza. Aster has to run and go tell Leo not to kill her fiancé Titus at the altar. Leo still isn’t sure, but trusts Aster.

Aster and Will go to the wedding together, and Aster watches as the two get married. As soon as the vows are said, all hell breaks loose. Titus is the one that is being possessed by Morana. Bloodshed starts, and Titus begins to kill his own people, even killing his own father and then crowning himself king. He then goes for Will and Aster and takes them to a prison.

When Aster wakes up, Will has succumbed to his curse. He is now an Underling. He starts to attack Aster, but Titus comes in and stops him. He also comes in to make fun of Aster for not realizing that it was him the whole time. For a brief moment, he starts to fight himself, and the old Titus comes through. He grabs both Will and Aster and manages to get them out of the prison.

When Aster wakes up, she has no idea where she is. She wakes and sees her family. It has been weeks since Titus got her out of the prison. Will is on a nearby ship while she is on land. He refuses to come on land, believing he will attack her, though he hasn’t fully shifted and no one knows why. As Aster fully wakes, she finds out that her father is actually alive. They also reveal that her father was a king and abdicated his crown to his sister. When Owen was born, he still became second in line. But when Aster was very sick as a child, something magical happened. Owen transferred that power to her, saving her, but also transferring the crown to her, leaving her second in line for the crown.

The whole family is now on land, regrouped together along with many of the rebels. It is time for them to make their move, and they want to kill Titus. Aster tries to stop them, first because she doesn’t want him dead, and second because she needs his blood to stop her and Will’s curse. The rebels have already made their decision. They are leaving the next day, and because Aster is still recovering, she is expected to stay back.

Aster watches as the ships start to sail away, but her sister slips her a key and tells her there is a crew and a ship waiting for her and that she should go. When she gets to the ship, Will is in the brig. She talks to him to try to get him to come out. He won’t, but tells her he will go wherever she wants to go, that the two will continue to look for a cure, especially since he hasn’t fully shifted. Some of the crew are her brothers, a few other family members, as well as Gabriel who turns out to be a mystical creature, an elf. Aster sets sail for the Burning Lands.