Chapter 0.4 – Cladus: Knight, Duke, Walking Problem for Readers with Standards

(aka: How to Protect a Queen, Betray a Kingdom, and Accidentally Become a Duke)

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They called him The Wall of Rhain.

Because when Cladus moved, wars stopped.

When he stared, lords swallowed their words.

And when he bled, it was never enough to kill him.

But before the titles—before the armor, the oath, the secret bloodline—

Cladus was just a soldier.

A soldier who saw too much, said too little, and buried everything he loved.

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The Boy with No Banner

He grew up in a war camp, not a cradle.

No lullabies—only the hiss of a whetstone.

No bedtime stories—only the screams of the fallen.

His sword was his mother.

His silence, his father.

And loyalty? That was the air he breathed.

Until the day he was summoned not to fight,

but to kneel.

"Protect the queen," they said. "She doesn't know who wants her dead."

And Cladus had replied—

"Then let them try."

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The Knight Who Never Bowed

He met Elara when she still had fire in her fists and too much trust in her voice.

He was supposed to watch her.

He stayed instead.

He didn't speak much. But when he did, it meant something.

"Your crown is heavy," he said once. "Let me hold the sword while you wear it."

He became her knight.

Then her shadow.

Then her secret.

Because he wasn't just a soldier.

He was Cladus Rhain. Son of the disgraced Rhain line. Last heir to the North. And a Duke in hiding.

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The Oath and the Lie

He should have told her sooner.

Should have explained the bloodlines. The bargain. The war he ran from.

But he didn't.

Because Elara was fighting her own monsters.

So he became her sword instead.

Until the day she was betrayed.

And he didn't get there in time.

"You failed her," Maelric said.

And for once, Cladus agreed.

So he vanished.

Reclaimed his Dukehood.

And swore to never fail her again.

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The Problem With Perfect Men

He doesn't flirt.

He doesn't joke.

He simply stands there,

being tall, dangerous, quietly in love, and very emotionally unavailable.

And somehow, this has become everyone's problem.

Especially Elara's.

Especially now.

"I will protect her," he says. "Even if I must burn my name to do it."

"Even if she never forgives me."