Book excerpt: Richard, the ambitious third son of the House of York, believes he is cursed, damned from birth to eternal darkness. But is it truly fate that sets him on the path to personal destruction? Or his own tormented longings? Based on an early draft of Shakespeare’s Richard III, Aya Kanno’s dark fantasy finds the man who could be king standing between worlds, between classes, between good and evil. Richard and Henry grow closer—but Margaret Lancaster’s son, jealous of their burgeoning intimacy, plots against them. Meanwhile, news of King Edward’s secret marriage to the duplicitous Elizabeth sours relations between England and France. In the midst of the chaos, Richard receives a dangerous but intriguing proposition.