Book excerpt: A shape-shifter and an errant soul share an unbreakable bond and a curse, and must join together to fulfill an ancient magical prophecy in Nancy Springer’s final installment of the Book of Isle When Prince Dair was a small child and still in wolf form, he saw his future in the loom of Ylim, the weaving seeress as old as the world. It was prophesied that he, the changeling son of King Trevyn of Isle, would travel far from his home and his loved ones, carrying his magic to the mainland. For the first time, Dair saw the golden swan, and the face of the stranger to whom he was eternally linked, the wanderer called Frain. But this mysterious youth who can feel everything Dair feels—his emotions, his anxieties, his pain—bears an obligation to a lost love and a curse of dark enchantment. Still, the bond that unites Dair and Frain is stronger than iron, and in their mystical union rests the fate of a troubled land. Reviewers have compared the volumes in Nancy Springer’s enthralling Book of Isle series to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and other masters of fantasy literature. The captivating saga concludes spectacularly with an unforgettable tale of duty, friendship, peril, fate, and love that adds a new richness and color to this remarkable island realm and its magical inhabitants.