When his younger sister is propositioned by the Tyrant King, Aster steps in to take her place. Just when he fears he must face this fate alone, the King assigns Rowan the Black to protect him—an Enforcer Knight with a tortured past. Despite his cruel reputation, Aster can't shake the feeling that Rowan is familiar to him. Haunted by memories of his lost childhood sweetheart, Jace, Aster must now navigate a veritable political chess game he wasn't at all prepared for. 

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“Flowers like the rose are needed for so many reasons,” Aster said. “The ground needs their roots, bees need their pollen, and animals need their leaves. So they do what they can to survive, by any means necessary. Does that mean a rose is evil for growing thorns?” He looked up at Rowan.

Rowan kept his eyes on the rose. He didn’t seem convinced. “A single rose has never caused as much pain as I have, Aster.”

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Broken Vows is created by Alex Agar, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author. 

BRoken Vows

It was nearly midday when Aster heard the familiar sentry bell at the edge of his ancestral land. He took the beautiful valley air into his lungs, and smiled up at the familiar trees and rock outcroppings he used to climb as a child. The hills rolled away between the main road and the lake, and Aster could just spot a couple of houses around the edge of the water. The Sisters, the mountains between which his home rested, stretched their green peaks toward the sky.


As he and Rowan rode up to the front of the manor, Aster saw his mother and sister come out to meet them.


“Brother!” Annalyse called happily as Aster practically jumped off his horse to wrap his sister in a tight hug. 


“What a pleasant surprise,” his mother said, an earnest smile on her face. “Has something happened? What brings you home so soon?” Her smile seemed to fade as her eyes moved from her son to the Knight now dismounting in front of her house. 


Chapter 16: Homecoming