_saintrose

Verona Falkenrath was raised for war, not marriage. But when her kingdom is forced into an uneasy alliance with its greatest rival, she is wed to Prince Lucian Velthorne, a man as cold and calculated as the crown he will one day inherit.

What begins as a union of duty soon becomes a tangled web of shifting loyalties, political games, and dangerous truths. With war on the horizon and enemies moving in the shadows, Verona must decide who to trust, who to fight, and what she's willing to sacrifice to protect the people she loves.

In a court ruled by power and blood, survival is not promised. But one thing is certain. The woman they tried to use as a pawn might just rewrite the game.

To Love a Crowned Enemy

The silence that followed the ambush was almost more unnerving than the attack itself. The rustling of the wind through the trees, the distant hoot of an owl, sounds that should have been mundane now carried the weight of danger, of unseen eyes watching from the depths of the forest.

Lucian dismounted first, his boots crunching against the bloodied earth as he scanned the treeline. The guards who had survived were regrouping, tending to the wounded, retrieving what little remained of the fallen. There was no time to bury the dead. The north did not afford such luxuries.

I slid from my horse, my muscles aching from the tension of the battle. My dagger was still slick with blood, my hands steady despite the carnage we had just endured. The scent of iron clung to the damp air, mixing with the faint burn of smoke from the remnants of the fight.

Chapter 29