Diana and her Ghosts

At the end of a long journey, a thief asks a spellcaster about her past. She obliges, and recounts the story of Diana and her Ghosts . . . Locked away in a vault of rare books, Diana toils through her tasks as a transcriber and her training as a spellcaster. Under the stern but watchful eye of her master, she longs for freedom and companionship. Her only friend is a ghost named Dog, for now, as his spirit and sanity are slipping away bit by bit every day. Diana struggles to find a solution that will liberate herself and bring peace to Dog, focusing on the new acquisitions to the book vault. However, the appearance of two new ghosts complicates her life, not only with the mystery of their death, but also a confrontation with her own past trauma. Will Diana fulfill the promises of friendship, or will she lose Dog, and herself, to the repercussions of mistakes from the past? A cozy fantasy novella with dark edges featuring magic and the supernatural, Diana and her Ghosts is a standalone story that weaves into the folklore of The Lobster Princess and can be read before, after, or independent of the series. Cover art copyright 2026 by Marguerite Sauvage and courtesy of 42 Fold Studio.