AN OATH STRONGER THAN DESIRE (To love beneath the crown)
Love does not always follow the rules—it thrives in corners where no one dares to look.
Kaelin Verain returns to the palace after years in exile, carrying secrets, scars, and a purpose only she understands. The kingdom teeters on the edge of political chaos, and she is the strategist tasked with restoring order. But power is not the only force she must navigate.
Lord Riven, the crown’s unyielding protector, stands between her and her mission. Tall, disciplined, and impossibly magnetic, he is sworn to duty—and forbidden to desire her. Yet every glance, every brush of skin, every shared moment pulls them closer. The tension between them is like dancing on the edge of a cliff: intoxicating, dangerous, and impossible to resist.
Bound by identities, oaths, and unspoken rules, Kaelin and Riven discover that desire is a silent vine, quietly entwining their hearts and igniting a fire neither can ignore. Every step they take together threatens the crown, their reputations, and the fragile line between loyalty and passion.
In a palace of whispers, secret alliances, and hidden truths, some love is meant to be forbidden, and some desire is impossible to deny.
Will they survive the stakes of duty while surrendering to the fire that consumes them both?
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Chapter: Chapter 30Seraphine did not await permission.By midmorning, the palace had undergone a transformation.The banners in the central hall were replaced—subtly initially, then unmistakably. Guards stood in positions they had not occupied before, wearing unfamiliar armour and bearing newly issued insignia. Servants whispered and were silenced with a glance. Even the atmosphere felt different, tighter, as if Zytherra itself had taken a breath and chosen not to exhale it.Kaelin sensed it before she was summoned.Something about the manner in which doors closed behind her as she walked. The way conversations ceased rather than softened. She reached the council chamber to find it already full.Seraphine stood at the head of the table.There was no smile, no warmth, no pretence of concern.Her hair was tightly bound back, her posture rigid with purpose. The woman who faced them now was not a princess engaging in political manoeuvring. She was authority made tangible.“Close the doors,” Seraphine comman
Last Updated: 2026-02-11
Chapter: Chapter 29Aurelian departed from the palace well before dawn.He did not exit through the gates, nor was he accompanied by an escort or announced. Instead, he traversed a narrow passage concealed behind an unused armoury—a stone surface that had been smoothed by the weight of countless footsteps that no longer graced it openly. The guards stationed nearby remained oblivious to his presence. They remained oblivious to his presence.The air beyond the palace walls was frigid and damp, a pervasive sensation that settled into the lungs without seeking permission. Aurelian drew his cloak tighter, adopting a slight slouch in his posture, and breathing measured to project a shallow appearance. Anyone who observed him from a distance would perceive him as ill-suited for the journey.Anyone who followed him would be mistaken only once.The rendezvous point was situated several miles east, where the terrain declined and the venerable watchposts stood abandoned, their purpose long forgotten by the crown.
Last Updated: 2026-02-11
Chapter: Chapter 28The city remained silent about the deceased individual.By unspoken agreement, Zytherra proceeded as if silence could heal the wound left behind. The caravan route was reopened, and supplies resumed. The guards increased their patrols, then feigned that this had always been the plan.Kaelin observed the change nonetheless.She perceived it in the way conversations ceased when she entered a room. In the way eyes lingered, measuring instead of dismissing. Whatever anonymity she had once cherished was diminishing, gradually eroding its boundaries.And more alarmingly—people were beginning to discern her true nature before she chose to reveal it.She spent the afternoon traversing the inner corridors, committing faces to memory. Some were familiar. Others had undergone a transformative change overnight, their expressions sharpened by fear or ambition. Zytherra was not responding to the attack—it was undergoing a metamorphosis.By dusk, she was certain of one fact.The caravan had never be
Last Updated: 2026-02-11
Chapter: Chapter 27The morning in Zytherra arrived quietly, as if the city itself were reluctant to acknowledge the night’s events.From her chamber window, Kaelin observed the pale light creeping across the rooftops. Smoke still lingered in the air, faint but unmistakable, clinging to stone and memory alike. Below, guards changed shifts, their hooves striking the cobblestone. Life resumed its measured rhythm.She had not slept.Her body bore no injuries, yet tension persisted in her muscles, settled deep and stubborn. The attack had been swift and efficient—too precise to dismiss as mere coincidence. Worse, it had been deliberate.They had been aware of her whereabouts.A soft knock sounded.Kaelin turned, already alert. “Come in.”The door opened to reveal a young palace aide, her expression tense with apprehension. “Lady Kaelin. You have been requested.”“By whom?”The girl hesitated. “Commander Riven.”Of course.Kaelin followed her through corridors still hushed from dawn. Servants moved quietly, t
Last Updated: 2026-02-11
Chapter: Chapter 26The alarm bells rang shortly after nightfall.They commenced as a distant echo, low and uncertain, before escalating into something unmistakable. Their iron voices pierced through Zytherra’s tranquil evening. Torches flickered along the battlements, doors slammed, and orders were shouted, partially drowned out by the wind.Kaelin was already awake.She had long since learned that nights following public humiliation were rarely tranquil.She rose from her chair as the second bell rang, instinctively grasping the dagger concealed beneath her cloak. Outside her chamber window, the city stirred like a wounded animal, uneasy, alert, and bracing.A knock struck her door.It was not polite or formal; it was urgent.She opened it to find a palace guard, breathless. “Lady Kaelin, Commander Riven requests your immediate presence.”That alone conveyed to her that this was not a drill.Upon her arrival, the outer courtyard was ablaze with torchlight. Soldiers moved with purpose, their armour clin
Last Updated: 2026-02-11
Chapter: Chapter 25The Hall of Sovereigns had never felt so watchful.Kaelin sensed it the moment she crossed the threshold—an almost imperceptible tightening in the air, as though the stone walls themselves were listening. Conversations softened. Footsteps slowed. Eyes lingered just a second too long before sliding away.Something had already begun.She did not know what yet, only that she was stepping into a carefully prepared moment.The council session had been called unexpectedly, a summons issued at dawn under the royal seal. Matters of border stability, trade routes, and regional alliances were the official agenda, but Kaelin had learned that in Zytherra, urgency rarely meant honesty. The court thrived on implication far more than declaration.She took her place among the lesser advisers, posture composed, expression neutral. Her presence here was still considered temporary by most—a useful mind, a clever observer, nothing more. That anonymity had protected her thus far.Today, it felt dangerousl
Last Updated: 2026-02-11
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