daisycombsq828f

King Aldous is dead. A ten-year-old boy perches on the throne, and the court of Kingsmoor hums with hidden ambition, old grudges, and a killer in the dark. Cassian Roan, Duke of the North Marches, returns to the capital after ten years holding the northern border. A man of brutal battlefield repute and iron self-control, he finds his name whispered through the court—and his private dignity laid bare by a physician’s damning misdiagnosis. Ambrose Calloway, Chancellor of the Realm, is the kingdom’s most powerful man. Sharp, meticulous, and handpicked by the late king to protect the child sovereign, he has every reason to distrust the duke with a blood claim to the crown—and every reason to watch him closely. When four young women are found dead in the cisterns of two great noble houses, suspicion falls at once on the cold, unreadable northern duke. But as Ambrose digs into the case, he uncovers a darker pattern leading straight behind the palace walls. Thrown together by suspicion and circumstance, the two men shift from hostile standoffs to a reluctant, searing alliance. Hunting a ruthless killer, they grapple with a dangerous, forbidden attraction that could ruin their careers, titles, and lives.

Crown and Shadow