Heartache. Revenge. Love. Ingredients for the perfect curse. Will King Titanite pass the first test of his family’s torment? On the night King Titanite’s twins are born, he must make a choice: send one daughter away from the palace or risk losing everything, including his twins. Empathize with Peridot, a shy, kind-hearted princess, longing for her father’s love. Become empowered by Ruby, a fiery, self-driven princess, determined to always be victorious. A three thousand-year-old curse binds those twin princesses to their family’s past and future. A curse driven by pain, revenge, and love. Titanite believes his queen knows nothing of the curse that split the Land of Carnelian in two and also burdened his family. However, with the help of a mysterious being, the queen has her own motives for their daughter who remains in the palace. Enjoy the journey towards the curse-driven battle between the princesses as they learn to harness their hidden royal powers from unexpected companions. Read the beginning of this young adult fantasy series to find out which Sapphire princess will become the next heir to the throne and help trigger The Carnelian Curse.

This curse is just getting started… Following the shocking reveal of Jadeite’s father being behind the manipulation of the curse all those years following the birth of the twin princesses, chaos ensues within the Sapphire Kingdom. King Titanite is furious that the curse is not over and now has to deal with his father-in-law, who has never liked him, trying to take over his kingdom. Spinel’s motives for bringing down the royalty of Sapphire Kingdom stem from his mysterious bloodline. Vengeance is all he cares about, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure it is achieved. Due to this new battle of wills between the princesses’ father and grandfather, they are thrown against each other yet again. Princess Peridot is desperate to hide within the shadows and avoid any responsibility yet battles with the desire to live up to the expectation of being queen one day. However, her twin, Princess Ruby, is determined to prove that she can and will defeat her sister and take back the throne she feels she is meant to have. What secrets will be uncovered about the Sentinels and Divinians of Sapphire and Cinnabar kingdoms as you continue the journey of the twin princesses? Will Spinel accomplish his goal for vengeance for his family and Cinnabar Kingdom? Read the second installment of The Carnelian Curse series to find out!

"Originally published in 2000 in Great Britain by Pan Books, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, as Seeing Double, [by Lucinda Edmonds]. Updated and revised edition published in 2018 in Great Britain by Pan Books, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, as The Love Letter"--Copyright page.

The amazing quality of lapis lazuli, the purity of its colour and the mystery of its origins have meant that it has been pursued through the ages as a rare and precious gemstone. In this book Sarah Searight seeks out the stone across a number of cultures and their histories and traverses through Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe. She examines the different perceptions and the role of lapis lazuli from its origins and discusses how the stone has an enduring sacred dimension. She also outlines how the modern world perceives the stone.