Serial · ongoing
Crown and Shadow
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.
Chapter 1: You're Impotent, Your Grace
You're Impotent, Your Grace "You're impotent." The physician said it the way a man reads a weight off a scale. No pleasure in it, no apology…
Chapter 2: I Ask, You Write
I Ask, You Write The file on the Chancellor ran to two pages, and Cassian had read it three times. He sat behind the desk with his back stra…
Chapter 3: No Women in This House
No Women in This House The lanterns went up along the corridor one at a time, the far end first, and by the time the last boy had hooked his…
Chapter 4: For Merit Alone
He left by the side door, because it was shorter, and because the short way did not pass the duke's pool. His carriage waited at the gate wi…
Chapter 5: She Said She'd Wait for Me
She Said She'd Wait for Me "Four of them, Your Majesty," Justice Winslow said. "Two out of the licensed houses. Two out of respectable homes…
Chapter 6: What If I Said Yes
What If I Said Yes "Someone to see you, Your Grace." Cassian put the heel of his hand against his brow and left it there. "Not tonight. Tell…
Chapter 7: Nobody Comes Here With Eyes Like Yours
Nobody Comes Here With Eyes Like Yours The Primrose kept its best room on the third floor, at the corner, and built it for the work the hous…
Chapter 8: That Was My First, For the Record
That Was My First, For the Record He got the door shut with his boot and the Chancellor of the Realm by the collar with his hand. On the lan…
Chapter 9: From Now On, You Don't Speak
From Now On, You Don't Speak He picked the pot up off the table on the chance that the last half hour had been a misunderstanding. It hadn't…
Chapter 10: The Man Is Mine
He had no voice, so he used his eyes. He had tested it twice on the way to the door: opened his mouth on a short word, the kind a man says w…
Chapter 11: There's Always Someone Bigger
There's Always Someone Bigger By the time they reached the front of the house, the story had got there first. It did not need carrying. It g…
Chapter 12: Someone's Watching
Someone's Watching He put his boot into the chair and sent it over. It went down on its side and stayed there, one leg up, and the crash of…
Chapter 13: No Second Owner
There Has Never Been a Second Owner He did not step back. He would have liked to say afterward that he had made a decision. There had been n…
Chapter 14: I Gave You a Chance
I Gave You a Chance Ambrose sat with his chin in his hand and watched the man in the door frame. The men from the house had gone down a whil…