The Stitcher Queen
About
A short story from the upcoming Ashfyre series Book II. To wet interest, for those who may want to pick up this series when I release it. This short (26k) will be published in it’s entirety.
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Queen Marhella of Lutania has spent her reign holding the line against raiders, rival kingdoms, and the hardship of northern survival. Nothing in her rule prepared her for what came through her throne room. A man split open like a doorway, a creature from a dead world, a conspiracy to take her head.
Now whispers spread across her kingdom, of a name spoken in blood and reverence: The Butcher.
As cultists move in shadow and something far worse begins to stir beyond the realm of men, Marhella must navigate more than war. She must rely on the two men bound to her in very different ways: her calculating consort, and her lethal champion, both loyal to her, and both in love with her in different ways.
Love, power, loyalty, and desire intertwine as the queen faces a truth more terrifying than invasion. This is not a war between kingdoms. This is the beginning of the end of worlds.