What Fury Bring by Tricia Levenseller

Here is a summary with spoilers for What Fury Bring by Tricia Levenseller

Olerra is a warrior, fighting her battles and proud of her people. For years, they have been fighting the brutal British people, with King Atalius as their leader. Olerra is feeling confident for this battle; it’s her job to save her people, and she decides to go right after the king. By throwing a rock at his head, he passes out and she is able to claim the battle. While thinking about what to do with him, Olerra has time to think about the other things going on in her life. Specifically, that she is in line for the crown but needs to fight with her cousin, Glen, to gain it. The problem is Olerra has the army and the soldiers, but Glen has the royals and the money. Olerra needs to find something to set her apart. She goes to interrogate Atalius, trying to find something that is his weak spot. She finds it: his sons, of which he has five. Olerra comes up with a plan. She strips the king naked and ties him up back in his village so that his people will see him at his weakest. Olerra then goes back home to deliver the news and start her plan.

Sanos, heir prince to the Brutas throne, has been at war opposite his father. While his father has been fighting Olerra, he’s been fighting on another front. But his birthday is approaching, meaning he can go home for a couple of weeks and relax. When he gets there, he finds a crowd—his father has been strung up naked and is being humiliated. He jokes with his brother, Canus, that their father is ridiculous before he helps his father down. Atalius is upset in general and decides to put that anger out on Sanos. First, he reminds him that he is not to be more likable as a ruler, because if Sanos takes the throne by starting an uprising, Atalius has plans in place to kill his mother and sister. He then goes on to say he is upset that he and Canus laughed at his humiliation, so he takes the two brothers to a whipping room, where he starts their punishment, then forces them to sword fight. It causes Sanos to black out, and when he wakes, it’s with his mother healing him and saying that she can’t wait until Sanos is king.

Olerra makes it back to her kingdom. She goes straight to her second in command, Ydra, and tells her that she is going Husband Hunting, basically planning on kidnapping one of the Brutish princes and training him, just as the other women in her land do. Olerra mentions that she is going to go after the second oldest, Andrastus. She goes straight to her aunt, the current queen, and tells her of this plan, who agrees it might be the perfect thing Olerra needs to secure the throne. The only problem, though no one knows it, is that Olerra has no magic to subdue a husband as all the other women in her land have. But Olerra wants to make sure other people know of this plan, so she goes to Glen to tell her. When she finds Glen, she is at an auction, finding more men for her harem, but when Glen finds out Olerra’s plan, she seems a bit scared.

After some time healing, Sanos decides he is ready to celebrate his birthday with his brothers. They go out from bar to bar until it eventually leads them to a brothel. When they get there, the owner says that a new girl specifically requested Andrastus. Sanos gets jealous; it’s his birthday, he wants the new girl. So when they go up, Andrastus passes out and Sanos decides to take his place. When he meets the girl, he sees she is beautiful. They share a passionate kiss until he feels a sting and becomes paralyzed. He realizes it was a con, and this girl is taking him to her kingdom.

Olerra made her move. She believes she has Andrastus, and they start the long journey home. She hopes to be able to train him while they travel. She tries to be gentle, but it doesn’t work. So when they get to her kingdom, she decides that’s not the way to go. She starts with some humiliation, making him walk around almost nude, then forces servants to clean and dress him to make him look presentable for the dinner. Sanos is not ready for any of it and tries to rebel as much as he can.

Sanos is taken to a room where they prepare him, wax him, shave him, and do anything else to make him look presentable. Later that night, Olerra comes to visit him. She needs to prepare for the first time they sleep together, so she goes over what to expect. He needs to act submissive and pretend that he is just in love with Olerra. If he can do that and she can secure her spot as queen, then Sanos can go do whatever he wants afterward, including going home. Sanos tries to do those things, but he has a line, and Olerra crosses it. So she punishes him yet again and presents him to her court. During this time, a man named Daneryn arrives; he is sad and angry that Olerra found a husband. He has been trying for years to be with Olerra, but she has denied him every time.

Olerra continues to try and train Sanos—who she still believes is Andrastus. It is tough going. The pair then run into Glen and her harem. She insists on a public fight between Andrastus and one of hers, Athon. Olerra is surprised that Athon is there; she last saw him in her army, and now he is stuck with Glen. The fight continues, and with a bit of advice from Olerra, Andrastus wins. Ydra also accompanies them from time to time to show Andrastus the city. One of the outings is to a public square where punishments take place. During this time, Andrastus is introduced to the word rape, and is haunted by it. The square is to punish those that commit it, and he sees it as a fitting punishment. He is slowly starting to realize that maybe he and his kingdom can change a couple of their customs to be more civilized.

Sanos, now given a bit more freedom, decides to go and work out with some others. While there, he is baited into a fight against Athon. In the heat of battle, Sanos pushes someone away—it was Glen trying to break the fight up—and he draws her blood. Glen demands his death. Right before his head is about to be chopped off, Olerra arrives and demands a substitution. She takes a beating that puts her within an inch of her life. The beating was also given by Glen, which now makes her look more powerful when compared to Olerra. Ydra is there to watch it all, and when it’s done, she takes Olerra and Sanos to her home. Sanos feels bad for what she sacrificed and wants to see Olerra. When he is permitted to see her, he says that he owes her a life debt. She continues the slow healing process and creates a new plan to secure the throne. Part of that plan is to have a tentative truce with Andrastus.

Together, they start their journey back to the castle but make stops along the way to help secure the people’s vote. Close to the castle, they are ambushed, and Sanos has the perfect opportunity to escape. He decides he can’t leave Olerra behind or else she will die, so he ends up helping her kill the ambushers. Back at the castle, Olerra shows Andrastus how grateful she is. But their intimate moment does not go further than that.

Their tentative truce works well, and they even get closer. Sanos shares some of his life, that he was beaten by his father, and that he would do anything for his little sister. Even though they get closer, he refuses to do anything sexual with Olerra until he is fully unchained. At one point, Glen brings Andrastus in to talk to him. She offers him a blade and wants him to use it to kill Olerra. He takes the knife but hides it in his room.

Glen hosts a party, one intended to make her look great among the nobles. It is also a time for Andrastus to put on a show for the nobles as well. He chooses to throw flaming knives, and even dares to throw one at an apple that Glen is eating. Everyone loves it, including Olerra, who removes the cuffs, and the two start to share a kiss. But when Olerra says Andrastus’s name, Sanos stops, not wanting to hear his brother’s name out of her mouth. Olerra believes it is maybe because he was hurt once, and that is why he stopped, but it creates a bit of a barrier between the two. It stays for weeks.

One day, Glen bombards Olerra and Andrastus, saying she has some news to share. She wants to know about Olerra’s magic and asks for a demonstration. When Olerra can’t, her secret is out in the open: she was not blessed with magic. Glen isn’t done though. She decides to share that she knows a secret about Andrastus. Sanos uses the moment to tell Olerra himself that he is Sanos, not his brother—his secret getting out now as well.

Olerra has basically lost the vote to be the next queen with her secret exposed. Not only that, there is now a potential for war because she stole the oldest heir, not the spare child. She locks up Sanos to deal with him later, then sends a letter to his father to ask for an exchange in brothers. During that time, she also has suspicions that Glen has been working with Atalius, because how else would she know about Sanos?

As the army arrives, Olerra goes to get Sanos and tells him he needs to play a part. When Atalius gets there, he and Olerra decide to end the skirmish—and the right to get Sanos back—by a fight to the death. Olerra takes some beatings but is also able to goad information out of Atalius. Atalius admits that he has been working with Glen and that this was all part of the plan. With that information out, the queen tells guards to arrest Glen. And now Olerra can kill Atalius, which she does quickly.

Olerra needs to heal from her wounds, and during that time she and Sanos get closer once again. They also duel a punishment for Glen: permanent exile in the castle. Her mother also gets the death sentence, and before she dies, her last words are that she killed Olerra’s mother and father. The queen delivers the killing blow herself. They plan their future for themselves and their kingdoms. They decide to marry, and Olerra officially gets her position as heir as well. During the wedding, the two are excited for their future and excited to shape their kingdoms together.