There is pretty much zero romance in this one. He questions everything around him and gets himself and the others in immense trouble every day by challenging everything they have learned to just accept as a way of life. Elian is not like any Child of Peace that has come before him. His arrival means that Greta will die soon, as their countries share borders and are destined for war.

He is the grandson of the ruler of the Cumberland Alliance, the newest threat to the PanPolar Confederacy. She is very book smart and the one that everyone looks to to make decisions. You see, if they start a war, their child dies, so in order to keep their heir alive, they must uphold peace. Since she was five years old, she has been living in a Precepture with other Children of Peace, kids of world leaders who ship off their children to live in these schools as hostages to guarantee world peace.

She is also a Child of Peace living in a Precepture until her eighteenth birthday when she will finally be free to return to her kingdom and take her place on the throne. Greta Gustasfen Stuart is the Duchess of Hallifax and the Crown Princess of PanPolar Confederacy.

The full review at more at Southern Bred, Southern Read! Which surely means that Greta and Elian will be killed.unless Greta can think of a way to save them. Now the great Talis is furious, and coming himself to mete out punishment. Then Elian's country declares war on Greta's and invades the prefecture, taking the hostages hostage. But slowly, his rebellion opens her eyes to the brutality of the rules they live under, and to the subtle resistance of her companions. Greta is furious that Elian has disrupted their quiet, structured world. He's a hostage from a new American alliance, and he defies the machines that control every part of their lives-and is severely punished for it. But everything changes when Elian arrives at the pretecture. Until then she is prepared to die with dignity, if necessary. Greta will be free if she can make it to her eighteenth birthday. Parents don't want to see their children murdered. The hostages are Talis's strategy to keep the peace: if her country enters a war, Greta dies. She is also a Child of Peace, a hostage held by the de facto ruler of the world, the great Artificial Intelligence, Talis. Greta is the Crown Princess of the Panpolar Confederacy, a superpower formed of modern-day Canada. The children of world leaders are held hostage-if a war begins, they pay with their lives. In the future, the UN has brought back an ancient way to keep the peace.

The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow