Broken Dove

Ilsa is living in hiding from her abusive husband, Pol Ulfr, when he finally finds her. She barricades herself in her apartment, calls the police, arms herself, and prepares for a last stand, but Pol and his men break in. After Ilsa wounds one of them, Pol overpowers and beats her. In the middle of the assault, another man who looks exactly like Pol appears with a witch named Valentine Rousseau. This man, Apollo Ulfr, is Pol’s counterpart from another world. He cuts off Pol’s hand to stop him, leaves him alive, and uses Valentine’s magic to take Ilsa away before the police arrive.

In safety, Valentine explains that Ilsa has been brought to Fleuridia, a parallel world. There, every person has a counterpart, and the Ilsa of this world was Apollo’s wife. That Ilsa is dead. Apollo knows the woman he rescued is not his wife, but he has spent years grieving and paid Valentine to bring this Ilsa to him if she could be found. The revelation is overwhelming for Ilsa, especially when she learns Apollo also has two children, Christophe and Élan, with his late wife. Apollo’s behavior swings between fierce protectiveness and cold distance because Maddie’s face, voice, and scent constantly reopen his grief. Isolated by language, custom, and uncertainty, Ilsa watches him keep her safe while refusing to tell her what place, if any, she has in his life.

After Apollo leaves her in a grand house under guard, Ilsa sees what she thinks is a prostitute arriving for him and decides she cannot build her future around his moods. During the long, repeatedly delayed journey toward Lunwyn, she begins reclaiming herself. Apollo’s men, especially Derrik and Achilles, become genuine companions instead of jailers. She learns the language, rides, shops, laughs, and slowly tells them the truth about Pol’s abuse and the children she lost because of that violence. The guards stop calling her Ilsa and begin calling her Madeleine, or Maddie, which helps her separate herself from Apollo’s dead wife. By the time she reaches Lunwyn, she has resolved to thank Apollo, then make an independent life of her own.

That plan collapses when Apollo and Derrik clash over her. Derrik has fallen for Maddie and accuses Apollo of abandoning her; Apollo reacts with jealousy and possessiveness he can no longer hide. Maddie herself asks only for money, her clothes, and the freedom to leave, but she also reveals why she cannot bear to live near Apollo’s children: Pol’s violence caused her to lose two babies. Because war and dark magic are closing in, Apollo instead gives her a choice between staying at Karsvall, where the children are, or traveling with him to Bellebryn. He secretly decides he will marry her for protection as well as desire, but Maddie only knows that she chooses Bellebryn. On the road, their antagonism slowly softens. At an inn she accidentally drinks adela tea, which heightens desire and lowers inhibition. Apollo tries to resist, but Maddie insists, and they finally become lovers. The next morning both are ashamed for different reasons, until Apollo makes clear he wanted Maddie herself, not a shadow of Ilsa.

Their new closeness is immediately tested. Apollo has already presented Maddie publicly as “Lady Ulfr,” effectively signaling an intention to marry her, and she is still reeling from how quickly he assumes a shared future. Then assassins attack them at an inn. Maddie refuses to flee, throws Apollo his saber, fights beside him, and helps decode a note showing that the real targets are Christophe and Élan in Karsvall. She rides with Apollo through the night to reach them. The children survive a related attack, though Élan is badly frightened, and Maddie’s fierce attempt to confront the captives proves how deeply she already cares for Apollo’s family. In the aftermath, Apollo learns more about Pol’s cruelty, houses Maddie separately in the dower house to give her control, and begins imagining her as part of his children’s future even while Christophe struggles with how much she resembles his dead mother.

Life at Karsvall becomes a cycle of healing, family-building, and repeated danger. Maddie befriends her maids Meeta and Loretta, inches closer to the children, and tries to understand Apollo’s world. Apollo, meanwhile, is both strategist and lover, balancing his desire for Maddie against his children’s needs and the growing threat from magical enemies tied to Specter Isle. At Brunskar, the stronghold of the dangerous Drakkars, Maddie withstands Franka Drakkar’s taunts and proves she can survive a hostile court. Soon after, she is magically abducted into the forest and attacked by monstrous hewcrows. Meeta and Loretta fight beside her until wolves, dragons, Frey, and Finnie help save them. Interrogations reveal that Franka was coerced into helping Helda, Minerva, and Baldur after her lover Antoine was tortured on Specter Isle. The conspiracy is not random: Maddie and the other women linked to powerful men across worlds are being specifically hunted.

Even inside Apollo’s household, fear causes damage. Maddie is tricked into following an impostor into the woods while Christophe briefly runs away, and Apollo, terrified of losing both his son and Maddie, lashes out with cruelty so sharp that she compares his behavior to Pol’s. For a time they are emotionally estranged. Maddie begins to understand that loving Apollo cannot mean accepting verbal abuse, and Apollo is forced to confront how badly fear has twisted him. Their reconciliation becomes one of the book’s major turning points. Apollo apologizes without excuse, names the courage, loyalty, and kindness that make Maddie precious to him, and finally tells her he loves her. Maddie admits she loves him too. He then works more carefully with Christophe, explains that Maddie is not replacing Ilsa, and gradually helps his son accept her. On the journey to Fyngaard, that progress becomes real enough for Apollo to propose marriage, and Maddie says yes.

At Fyngaard, Maddie is welcomed by Queen Aurora and the wider circle of allies. There she learns that Finnie, Cora, and Circe are all pregnant, and realizes she may be pregnant too. The pattern is ominous. Apollo and the others are preparing a final operation against Helda’s faction, but the enemy strikes first. The Winter Palace comes under magical assault, and Maddie, Circe, Finnie, and Cora are abducted to Specter Isle. There Pol, Baldur, Helda, Edith, and Minerva reveal the real purpose of the campaign: they want the unborn daughters of these women, believing those girls will carry extraordinary power born from love that crossed worlds, kingdoms, and old magical divisions. Pol also shows his true nature one last time by murdering the false Cora he has been using. The four women, trapped in a magical cage, discover they can generate power together through their bond and the men they love. Their shared magic breaks the prison long enough for the rescue to converge.

The final battle unfolds through both force and hidden planning. Franka turns her vengeance on the witches, Derrik is revealed to have infiltrated Specter Isle by pretending to betray Apollo, Lavinia rises as part of the counterstrike, and Apollo and his allies break through. Lahn kills Baldur. Apollo reaches Maddie and kills Pol before Pol can touch her again. Minerva is destroyed, and Helda is dragged before Apollo’s wolves and given over to them as punishment. Afterward, it becomes clear that Valentine, Franka, Derrik, and the women’s own awakened power all helped make the rescue possible. A week later Maddie marries Apollo. The epilogue shows the life they have fought for: Christophe and Élan come to love her as family, Maddie gives birth to their daughter Valentine and later their son Aether, and Apollo sees that the woman he once called broken has finally found safety, joy, and a home of her own.