Excerpt!
King Aldous, recently turned fifty, was a divisive king. Most nobles found him frustrating when they were in a good mood, and wanted him dead when he really pissed them off. Everyone else tended to admire him greatly. At the very least, they were relieved he was nothing like his father, who'd been well on his way to being a tyrant when he'd fallen ill and died in the span of a few hours, and suddenly his nineteen-year-old son was king.
"Lily," he replied, and kissed the back of her hand affectionately before she took her place by his side. "You wanted to speak with me?"
"About Ferdinand's 'cousin,'" Lily replied, still smiling pleasantly, giving nothing away to anyone watching them. "It will keep until after this meeting. I've already set people to look into the matter further."
"Hmm," Aldous replied, his way of saying he agreed with her about how troubling it was.
They fell silent as the room filled, conversation creating a low din, guards and servants rushing about to sort out one problem or another. The seating in the throne room ran along both sides of it, arranged in five rows, each higher than the one in front of it. There was also gallery seating, for those who wanted to see the public proceedings but did not merit a seat below. Snotty nobles liked to call that area the gawkery.
Behind her, the door opened to admit Ferdinand, looking his usual self, and yet something prickled along the back of Lily's neck all the same. Her usual dislike, the strangers, or something else entirely, she couldn't say. Why her father insisted on retaining him as steward, she would never understand. His intelligence and political acumen did not, in her opinion, make up for the fact he was a nasty little rat who got handsy with the maids.
Ferdinand bowed to both of them and took up his position to the king's left. Arrayed behind them were Josiah, her handmaidens, Aldous's bodyguards, and a handful of trusted clerks should anything need to be delivered or retrieved. Guards lined the length of the hall on both sides, twice the usual number to hopefully mitigate the displays of outrage they feared would come. Because they were making people pay their fair share of taxes.
As everyone settled, more or less, Aldous gave a signal to a waiting clerk, who rang the enormous gong behind the thrones, calling the meeting to order.
The atmosphere was decidedly tense. Lily felt sorry for none of them.
Stepping forward, Aldous extended his arms in a gesture that was welcome and supplication all at once. "Welcome, all. I know today brings news that makes—"
Thunk. Gurgle. Aldous collapsed.
Lily stared, uncomprehending, as her father's blood poured from his throat.
Lily is the first crown princess her kingdom has ever had, and many look forward to having a queen on the throne someday. Others are vehemently against it, and the anger stirred up by dramatic and severe changes to certain laws is causing even more turmoil.
When that tension finally explodes, Lily finds herself running for her life, forced to leave behind everything she knows and plunge blindly into the dense, dangerous forest that surrounds the royal palace. A forest said to be filled with ancient ruins, monsters, and ghosts who laugh at unwary travelers.
Instead of finding monsters and ghosts, Lily is found by a woodcutter, gruff and quiet and clearly not pleased to be saddled with an uninvited guest who doesn't even know how to fetch water from a well. But Lily has nowhere else to go, and no way of getting home safely, not when there are people still looking to remove her head.
If she hopes to live long enough to claim her throne, she must first prove her worth to the woman who can't wait to be rid of her.
Author bio:
Megan is a long-time resident of queer romance and keeps herself busy reading and writing it. She is often accused of fluff and nonsense. When she’s not involved in writing, she likes to cook, harass her wife and cats, or watch movies. She loves to hear from readers and can be found all over the internet.
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