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Standing Ground

ผู้เขียน: smarto
last update วันที่เผยแพร่: 2026-09-10 15:30:43

The red ribbon fluttered in the autumn breeze before the mayor’s heavy brass scissors snapped it in two. The crowd on the sidewalk burst into applause, flashes from local news cameras reflecting off the clean double doors. Amelia stood next to Alexander, her fingers wrapped tight around his. Her lab coat was slightly wrinkled, and Alexander’s charcoal suit bore faint smears of grease, but neither of them cared.

By eleven in the morning, the initial media excitement faded, leaving behind the ste
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  • She Refused to Love Her Husband   The Serpent in the Keep

    The black envelope felt ice-cold in Amelia’s trembling hand. The smell of bitter almonds lingered on the parchment, a silent witness to the poison that had ended her mother's life in a locked cell just three hundred yards away."How could someone get past four royal guards, Julian?" Amelia whispered, her voice tight with rising panic as she looked toward the wooden basket where baby Arthur slept. "They were standing right outside her door!"Julian leaned against the heavy oak doorframe of the inn, rubbing his exhausted, shadow-draped eyes. "The guard on duty said a hooded figure brought a pitcher of warm spring water, claiming it was sent by you to ease Eleanor's burned throat. The guard let them pass because they showed a silver royal signet ring."Amelia’s heart dropped into her stomach. "My father's signet ring? But there are only three in existence. You have one, Victoria has one, and...""And the third one was left inside the vault at the Northern Iron Fortress," a deep, raspy vo

  • She Refused to Love Her Husband   Through the Ashes

    The roaring wave of fire blew outward, shattering the chapel’s stained-glass windows into a million glittering shards. Thick, black smoke instantly swallowed the room, turning the wooden altar into a blinding wall of heat."Amelia!" Alexander screamed, his voice raw with pure terror.He didn't care about the flames. He didn't care about his torn chest stitches or the smoke filling his lungs. Alexander charged straight toward the wall of fire, but Lord Marcus and Julian tackled him from behind, slamming him down onto the cold stone floor near the chapel doors."Release me, damn you!" Alexander roared, thrashing wildly against their grip as fresh blood burst through his bandages. "Amelia is in there! Let me go!""The floorboards are collapsing, sire!" Marcus yelled, his face covered in soot as he held Alexander’s shoulders down with all his strength. "If you jump into those flames, you both die!"On the other side of the roaring fire wall, Amelia crashed hard against the cold stone base

  • She Refused to Love Her Husband   The Ashes of Oakhaven

    The smell of burning pine and wood ash hit Amelia long before she saw the ridge.It was the same familiar wind that used to carry the scent of freshly baked sourdough and spring blossoms when she was a little girl running barefoot through Oakhaven. Now, that sweet memory was swallowed by thick, gray smoke rising into the pale pre-dawn sky.Amelia reined in her horse at the edge of the hill, her knuckles white around the leather straps. Beside her, Alexander sat tall in his saddle, his face drawn tight with pain, but his gray eyes sharp and alert. His chest was wrapped tightly in clean linen under his dark leather tunic, and though every breath burned his lungs, he refused to stay behind at the hunting lodge.Below them lay Oakhaven–the quiet farming village where Amelia had grown up. The quaint wooden cottages with thatched roofs, the stone water well in the center square, the blacksmith shop where her father used to fix horse shoes–all of it was surrounded by two hundred black-clad m

  • She Refused to Love Her Husband   Bloodlines in the Sand

    The heavy crunch of steel boots on wet beach pebbles sounded like breaking bone. Three hundred royal southern knights surged out of the pine forest, their golden banners snapping wildly in the damp ocean breeze.Amelia stood frozen on the sand, her arms locked around baby Arthur. Her mind struggled to process the face revealed beneath the silver visor–the broad jaw, the fierce dark eyes, the small crescent scar above the eyebrow that matched a faded drawing her father had kept hidden inside a wooden bible."Julian...?" Victoria whispered, her voice barely audible over the roaring surf. She took a hesitant step forward, dropping her broadsword into the wet sand. "You... you died in the winter fever. Father buried you in the village chapel!"The silver knight didn't lower his sword, but his dark eyes softened as he looked at Victoria and Amelia. "Father buried an empty pine box, Victoria," he said, his voice thick with years of quiet, buried pain. "Mother took me in the middle of the ni

  • She Refused to Love Her Husband   The Shadow of the Crown

    The air in the courtyard turned to ice as the deep, low boom of the black fleet’s horn echoed off the basalt cliffs.Amelia stood frozen on the wet stone floor, her arms locked around baby Arthur, her eyes darting between the dark horizon and her twin sister. Victoria was still backed up against the cold fortress wall, her hand trembling on her sword hilt, her face drained of all color."Eleanor?" Amelia whispered, the name feeling foreign and heavy on her tongue. "Our mother... She's alive?""She can't be," Victoria gasped out, her voice barely carrying over the sound of the crashing waves below. "I saw her tomb in the Royal Crypts! I saw father place her crown on her coffin when we were six years old!""Well, whoever is on those ships just brought fifty black-sailed warships into firing range!" High Chieftain Bryn roared, sprinting toward the stone parapet overlooking the sea. "They're loading the catapults! We have five minutes before this courtyard becomes a pile of burning gravel

  • She Refused to Love Her Husband   The Edge of the Pit

    The sound of crashing waves echoed up from the dark stone opening like the roar of a hungry monster. Cold salt spray blew through the iron courtyard, mixing with the sharp smell of sea kelp and wet leather.Amelia’s heart slammed against her ribs so hard it felt like a hammer striking iron. Her knees trembled, but she locked her joints, keeping her boots planted firm on the wet stone floor. Ten feet in front of her, Duke Cassian stood on the slippery edge of the sea pit, his gold armor gleaming under the dark gray sky. His left arm held baby Arthur suspended over the drop, the child’s tiny wool blanket flapping wildly in the ocean wind.Arthur was screaming, his small fists flailing against the freezing air, his face turning bright red with terror."Cassian, please!" Amelia cried out, extending her trembling hands, her voice breaking into a desperate, sobbing plea. "Please, he’s just a baby! He hasn't done anything to you! Take me! Take my life, but put my son down!"Duke Cassian let

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