Prologue
I was fifteen years old when I first met Sir Damien Ashford.
The Commander of the Royal Knights.
My father's most trusted knight.
And the one person who would change my life forever.
At the time, I believed it was nothing more than a foolish girl's admiration.
A passing crush.
The kind of feeling that quietly disappears with age.
I was wrong.
Because love was never the only thing waiting for me.
There were truths buried beneath the crown.
Promises broken long before I was born.
And a kingdom carrying secrets no one dared to speak aloud.
I simply didn't know it yet.
Some stories begin with a crown.
Some begin with a sword.
And some begin with a single glance...
...that alters the course of everything.
