Sole of Secrets (The Ruby Realm #3)

An invincible princess and a dance with death...
A Retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Princess Ruby is the only biological daughter of the emperor out of her eleven sisters. Despite being classified as her father’s favorite, she’s barely even permitted to step outside the palace due to the emperor’s overprotectiveness. Some citizens believe she’s kept confined because she’s too treasured, others believe it’s because she’s secretly ugly, but only her father and sisters know the true reason she’s locked away...
Ruby is gifted with an astonishing immunity that prevents her from feeling pain, getting sick, or even sustaining injuries for more than a few hours. One would think a princess that strong would be allowed outside her palace, but her father fears that if her gift became known, someone would take advantage of it.
Aiden is a common builder whose mother is slowly slipping away due to illness. He’d do anything to save her, even join the criminal group the basilisks in exchange for a magical extension of her life. The emperor is hosting a competition in search of a male heir for his empire, so Aiden must infiltrate the event and feed the basilisks whatever information they request if he wants his mother to survive. Should be easy enough. Or at least it would have, until things take a turn for the worst when his fellow competitors begin to drop dead.
Aiden’s job description never included murder, yet he still feels the basilisks are responsible, or worse... his intel helped them do it. Ruby may be invincible, but she’s powerless to protect others. If she wants to stop the killer, she’ll need inside help from a competitor she feels she can trust... She did like that Aiden fellow. Will Aiden help her save the other competitors? Or will she be dancing with danger on her own?