River Meets the Sun

A love forbidden. An oath forsaken. The legend...forevermore.

They call me Anini, the Jewel of Hamtic. A daughter of the river, a promise of the kingdom.

All my life, I have been told that peace demands obedience, that love is a luxury for lesser hearts. But when my father, the Datu of Tinigbasan, forges a truce sealed by blood and duty, he sends me a shield instead of a suitor-a man of few words and impossible eyes, a warrior who wields the sun.

From the moment he kneels before me, the world is never the same again.

They call me Nogas, a warrior of Kalisidlan. I was born of stone and silence. A weapon, a servant, nothing more.

But when I am sent to guard the princess of Tinigbasan, I learned that devotion can wound deeper than any blade. She is everything I was told not to want-but the first touch of her voice feels like sunlight breaking through a mountain.

I swore to protect her. I never meant to love her.

Our hearts were never meant to meet, but the river and the sun do no ask permission to change the world. They burn everything to forge something new.

Inspired by the fables of the province of Antique, author Shirley Siaton-Parabia collaborates with her husband, Anini-y native Peter Parabia, to bring to life one of the greatest love stories of Philippine mythology. Recommended for readers 13 years old and above.