_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 gates of the northern stronghold groaned shut behind us, the sound reverberating through the stone courtyard like the closing of a cell. The air here was different, thicker, colder, and charged with unspoken hostility. The northern warriors who lined the walls did not cheer, nor did they bow. They only watched, their expressions unreadable beneath fur-lined cloaks and weather-worn armor.

Lucian walked ahead, his posture composed but wary. I followed at his side, every step calculated, every breath measured. The weight of expectation pressed down on me, not just from the Praylor guards who had survived the journey, but from the northerners who saw me as something else entirely.

A traitor. A usurper. A daughter of the wrong warlord.

Chapter 31