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prince

steel beneath the crown

They say kingdoms do not fall all at once. They burn slowly—first in whispers, then in screams. Prince Aurelian Valenor was never meant to wear the crown. Overshadowed by his elder brother, the brilliant Crown Prince Lucien, Aurelian lived quietly at court, unseen and unchosen. His world was small, contained—until the day he was given a knight. Sir Caelan Thorne is loyalty made flesh. Lowborn, battle-scarred, and sworn by blood and law to protect royal life, he stands at Aurelian’s side with a devotion so absolute it borders on sacrilege. He is everything a knight should be,.. and the one man Aurelian must never love. But love does not ask for permission. As war creeps back to the borders of Elyndor, the kingdom tightens its grip on duty and sacrifice. When Crown Prince Lucien suffers a devastating wound on the battlefield and falls into a coma that may never end, the line of succession shatters. The spare prince becomes the heir. The overlooked becomes indispensable. And the crown demands a wife. With enemies pressing in, nobles circling like vultures, and the memory of a murdered queen haunting the throne, Aurelian is forced toward a political marriage that will secure the realm—and condemn his heart. Every step closer to the crown pulls him further from the one man who has sworn never to reach for him. For Sir Caelan, love is treason. For Prince Aurelian, love is weakness. For the kingdom, love is a luxury it cannot afford. As the fires of war rise and the court demands sacrifice, two men must decide what will burn: their devotion, their honor… or the kingdom itself. Because some loves do not end in happiness. They end in ash.
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