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

Aster woke in the morning to rather loud knocking on his chamber door. Half asleep, he called out that he would be right there, but the knocking was insistent. He groaned as he pulled his dressing gown on over his sleep clothes, thinking that his fiancé was demanding his attention FAR too early in the morning—


But it wasn’t the King. Aster opened the door to Jace, who looked… rather distressed? He was in need of a bath, his skin smudged with grime and a small, fresh bandage on his chest, peeking out from the low collar of his tunic. He was clutching onto a beat-up old book, golden, with a sun emblazoned on the cover. 


“Can I please come in?” he asked, his voice husky like he’d just woken himself. Normally, Aster would enjoy hearing it, but… seeing him this unsettled was itself unsettling. 


“Of course, but what—” He looked around the hall as Jace slipped past him, making sure no one was following before he closed the door. “What’s wrong, my love?”


Chapter 34: Before the Court