The Forbidden Guard
Princess Elara Veyne has spent her entire life learning one simple truth: a crown is not a privilege, it is a prison. Born into a royal family that values duty above....
Princess Elara Veyne has spent her entire life learning one simple truth: a crown is not a privilege, it is a prison. Born into a royal family that values duty above love, Elara has always played the perfect princess. Smile for the kingdom, obey the council, never question the throne. But everything changes after a scandal turns her into the most hated woman in the kingdom. Overnight, the princess loses her privileges, her friends, and the trust of the people she was raised to rule. Worse, someone inside the palace wants her dead. Then the king gives her a new protector. Kael Draven. Cold, ruthless, unforgiving. A disgraced royal guard with a dangerous reputation and one rule he refuses to break: He will protect Princess Elara with his life, but he will never love her. Elara hates him from the moment they meet. Kael doesn't trust her. Yet when the first assassination attempt comes, he is the only person standing between her and death. Soon, Elara realizes the man assigned to guard her is hiding wounds of his own. Kael knows more about the palace than he admits, and every time danger strikes, he seems to know exactly where it will come from. Then someone leaves a warning inside her bedroom: THE ENEMY IS ALREADY IN THE PALACE. Elara doesn't know whom to trust. Not her father. Not the royal council. Not the prince she is expected to marry. And certainly not the guard who watches her as if protecting her matters more than his own life. But the closer they become, the harder it becomes to deny what is growing between them. A stolen moment becomes a forbidden kiss. A forbidden kiss becomes a dangerous secret. And their secret becomes a weapon powerful enough to destroy the kingdom. As assassinations increase, rival kingdoms threaten war, and the battle for the throne turns deadly, Elara must decide whether to remain the obedient princess everyone expects, or become the queen her enemies fear. But every answer uncovers another secret. Every betrayal brings them closer to the truth. And every danger forces Elara and Kael closer together. Soon, the greatest threat to the kingdom isn't the assassin hiding in the palace. It isn't the rival prince plotting to seize the throne. It isn't even the royal family fighting for power. It is the love between a princess and the man sworn to protect her. Because if the kingdom discovers the truth, Kael will be executed. Elara will lose her crown. And the kingdom could fall into war. But when Kael finally discovers that the woman he was ordered to protect may be the key to a conspiracy that destroyed his own family, he faces an impossible choice: Protect the princess he loves or destroy the crown she was born to wear. And Elara must make her own choice. Will she sacrifice the man she loves to save her kingdom? Or will she risk everything to expose the people who have been controlling her life from the shadows? In a palace where everyone has a secret, love may be the most dangerous secret of all. Because some promises are made to be kept. Some crowns are meant to be broken. And some forbidden loves are worth starting a war for.