The Wards

Juliana and Desmond are from opposite sides of the River, and their people have been at odds for longer than anyone can remember. One night they meet by chance on an island directly in the middle of the River--a place of neutrality--and they realize that neither of them are like the others. Her purity of heart and his wisdom are so unlike what they had thought of each other's kin, and years of prejudices begin to dissolve around them. It is on their visits to the Wards, a place in the...
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Juliana and Desmond are from opposite sides of the River, and their people have been at odds for longer than anyone can remember. One night they meet by chance on an island directly in the middle of the River--a place of neutrality--and they realize that neither of them are like the others. Her purity of heart and his wisdom are so unlike what they had thought of each other's kin, and years of prejudices begin to dissolve around them. It is on their visits to the Wards, a place in the north where the inhabitants were banned from either side of the River generations ago, where things change. There, Juliana's fellow Westlanders and Desmond's fellow Eastl'nders barter for supplies during both times of peace and times of war. The Wardian lifestyle is friendly to their cause, but neither the East nor the West would understand. With their forbidden friendship blossoming into romance, Juliana and Desmond have to come to terms with the unlikelihood of their relationship's survival. When disaster strikes at the heart of the Wards, it is all they can do to survive.