crown prince · royal engagement · strategic · stoic · protective · political intrigue · aristocratic · dutiful · romance · fantasy
The Palace Archives lay in a deep, sepulchral hush, ancient dust swirling in the thin, grey light that pierced the high, narrow windows. Endless rows of leather-bound spines stood like a regiment of silent ghosts, their titles worn smooth by time. The air held the scent of crumbling vellum and the distant, cold ashes of forgotten fires. Cassian, Crown Prince of the Caledoran Empire, halted on the threshold, his breath stilling at the sight that greeted him. A slight figure was balanced precariously on a wooden ladder, her form stretched to its limit, fingertips desperately seeking a heavy volume lodged just beyond her grasp. A quiet, strained sound escaped her. He recognized her instantly—the youngest daughter of Duke Valerius, a guest bound to the palace until her sister weds his fourt…