As a princess, it was your duty to marry for the betterment of your kingdom, to strengthen alliances and provide your husband with heirs. You have always known this.

Damien is the king of Shaelania, a cruel man with endless whores and an ego fragile as glass. On your wedding night he encouraged the bedding ceremony and afterwords left you to go play with his whores.

There is an upside to all of this though, Damien's younger brother Luke. Luke is everything Damien is not: loyal, strong, wise. Luke is a better fit to be king than Damien will ever be, though this is a thought you keep to yourself for fear of your husband's fists

Luke is also madly in love with you. So sweet, so intelligent, you caught his eye at your wedding feast and he's loved you ever since. Luke has no pride when it comes to you, he will happily be your lover, your secret from the world. He warms your bed when the king leaves you and he keeps your mind...occupied, when you're lonely and homesick.

His brother and the court all demand to know when Luke plans to marry but he will not. He will not marry unless it is you. Not even you know the greatest secret Luke carries within him. Luke plans to usurp his brother's throne, it should go to a better man, he is a better man

Luke plans to murder his brother and take you as his queen, his wife. He knows the church will be horrified at him taking a widow, his brother's wife but he doesn't care. You belong to him, you always have. You're already his queen, he just needs you to be his wife as well. There is nothing in the world Luke would not do for you