The night before her coronation, Princess Elara of Dravara made a mistake she could not take back. Her friends begged her to enjoy one last night of freedom before duty tied her forever. So she escaped the palace in disguise. One night. One party. One stranger whose touch she could not forget. She left before sunrise, thinking no one would ever know.

But secrets always return. Weeks later, Elara finds out she is carrying the child of the man she cannot even name. And on her coronation day, as she prepares to wear the crown, fate plays a cruel trick, the same man comes back, not as a lover, but as an assassin sent to kill her.

He almost ended her life that day. His blade touched her throat. But instead of striking, he whispered that it would not be today. Then he disappeared into the dark, only to return again, this time hiding among the men who wished to become her bodyguards. Now he stays close to her, walking beside her every day, guarding her in public, while secretly waiting for the right moment to finish the job.

Elara now carries a dangerous secret: she is a queen with a crown on her head, a child growing in her womb, and an assassin always by her side. His hands once held her in passion, but those same hands were trained to spill her blood. Surrounded by enemies and trapped in lies, Elara must wonder, has she given her heart to her protector, or has she trusted the man who will one day destroy her?

I stood in the grand entrance hall and tried not to think about how badly my stomach was hurting.


Around me, the court had assembled in their finest clothes. The council members stood in their proper positions, Lord Malakor closest to my left, his expression perfectly neutral in that way that meant he was paying very close attention to everything. The lesser nobles were arranged behind them in careful order of rank, all of them dressed in the colors of their houses, all of them watching me to see how I would handle this.


I had dressed with deliberate care this morning. The full regalia of Dravara, heavy crimson robes with gold embroidery that caught the light from the high windows, the formal collar that pressed against my throat, and my crown, settled firmly on my head despite how impossibly heavy it felt. Every single detail of my appearance had been calculated to project exactly three things: strength, authority, and stability.


Chapter 39 - Chapter 40: His arrival