Book excerpt: A lost girl and a blind boy discover their greatest strength is their bond with each other in a beguiling fantasy by the New York Times bestselling author of The First Girl Child. An insidious curse is weakening the Norse kingdom of Saylok, where no daughters have been born in years. Washing up on these plagued shores is Ghisla, an orphaned stowaway nursed back to health by Hod, a blind cave dweller. Named for a mysterious god, Hod is surrounded by prophecy. To Ghisla, he's a cherished new friend, but to Hod, the girl is much more. For when Ghisla sings, Hod can see. Unable to offer safe shelter, Hod urges Ghisla onward to become a daughter of the temple, where all the kingdom's girl children have been gathered. But because of a magical rune, the two cannot be separated, no matter the time or the distance. Now, subject to a ruthless king, Ghisla enters a desperate world of warring clan chieftains and catastrophic power struggles. Uncertain whom to trust, their bond strained by dangerous secrets and feuding loyalties, Ghisla and Hod must confront the prophecies that threaten Saylok while finding a way to save each other.