The Storyteller's Daughter

A king in a faraway kingdom has been betrayed, and his hurt turns to bitter anger. He swears that nobody will deceive him again. The plan he makes to guard himself puts every young woman in the realm in danger, unless one of them agrees to marry him and give up her life.

One young woman steps forward, to the relief and horror of those around her. Shahrazad is the daughter of a legendary storyteller, and she believes that accepting this risk is her destiny. On her wedding night she begins to tell the king a tale.

The king is fascinated, and night after night he lets her live. Shahrazad starts to hope that she has found a way to survive, and that an unexpected love may be growing alongside it. Then a treacherous plot threatens to wreck her plan, and her fate depends on whether that love is strong enough.

This is a fairy-tale style fantasy built around storytelling, with a romance running through it. The danger is constant, since each night could be her last, and the tone stays rooted in the tale-telling that keeps her alive.