Gabrielle_Johnson_6482

“You must bear a child, Celia. what good is a woman who isn’t a mother? What good is an empty womb?”

“Especially when it’s a foreign womb, like yours…”

It’s not an easy life when you’re watched month after month, when all the blame is placed at your feet for your young husband having no heir. 

Celia Devon Tralhamir, Crown Princess of Havietten, waits every month with hope mingled with fear. 

A child will secure her future. But it will also bind her for life to a husband she neither loves or respects, who refuses to see her abilities. Is that what she wants?

Is she content to prioritise security over happiness, and be a wordless decorative vessel all her life?

Or is she brave enough to try to forge her own path and seize fulfilment on her own terms? Even in a society that cannot recognise individual brilliance in a mere woman.

A sequel to the WEBNOVEL book “Earning the Love of a Princess”, this novel follows another woman born into the Royal House of Devon, trying to fight the confines that threaten to stifle her happiness.

The Loneliest Ballad

It was late afternoon when she finally cantered into St Ivan's striking entry courtyard. One of the stable boys saw her and ran over to her in alarm.

"Your Grace! Aren't you supposed to be-"

"Yes I know exactly where I'm supposed to be!" Celia snapped, close to tears from the fiery pain running up her back. "But as you can clearly see, I'm here instead. So take my horse into the stable and see that she's fed well. This hasn't been an easy journey for either of us."

She dismounted with a long suffering groan, her legs nearly folding beneath her and sending her crashing down.

There was something about being within the safety of St Ivan's imposing walls that made Celia start shaking with exhaustion. She didn't particularly like the palace but at least she didn't have to worry about thieves trying to strike her down on the road to rob her.

From Your Lips