The Color of Time

Princess Cyrelle is still mourning the loss of her sister-in-law the queen when King Elias, her widowed brother, decrees he will remarry her. To dodge the incestuous union without saying no to her irascible brother, Cyrelle asks for seemingly impossible nuptial gifts, promising she will accept the proposal if he provides them. When Elias succeeds in providing suits as radiant as the sun, as celestial as the moon, and as inevitable as time, she asks for the death of Celadon, the giant snake from the faraway planet Phau whose shed skin provides the kingdom with immense wealth and interstellar travel abilities. Elias complies after finding that Celadon has laid two eggs, guarantying his continued wealth.

Running out of excuses to avoid the wedding, Cyrelle disguises herself in a suit made of Celadon’s skin and flees her home planet after stealing Celadon’s eggs. Going by the name of Green Scales, she finds refuge on Phau in the foreign city of Prophis, where she plans to care for Celadon’s children to atone for the snake’s pointless death. But Prophis’s rebels are causing trouble in the city, and when Sianna, the leader of the rebellion, recognizes the runaway princess and falls in love with her, they strike an unusual alliance, pushing Cyrelle to fight for her own freedom and that of the oppressed people of Prophis.