Stasis Shock
by Brett P. S.
To Ethan Cook, a college student studying programming, stasis gaming was a part of his life as much as eating lunch. Stasis froze the body in time and with a proper interface, he could accomplish almost anything in his fantasy world. It was better than real life. However, stasis came with a cost. A body tuned to that physiological state could sometimes relapse, a condition called stasis shock.A cursed prince. A vain beauty. Glory is the seventh daughter of Balthazar, High King of the Twelve Kingdoms. Glory hopes that - of all her sisters - she can escape the fate of a loveless marriage. But on the night she plans to elope with the royal falconer, her world comes crashing down: Her father announces Glory's betrothal to Eoghan of the Blood Realm - a prince no one has ever seen. The prince is said to be a recluse, cursed and deformed by the gods for the sins of his power-hungry father. Yet when Glory is trapped in Blackthorn Keep she discovers that not everything is what she expected. An insulting gryphon, a persistent ghost, and a secret plan to usurp the prince keep Glory reeling. Can she overcome her vanity to learn that what you want isn’t necessarily what you need—and save the cursed prince?