The Courtesan's Stolen Crown

Tabitha has belonged to the madames and the cathedral for as long as she can remember, a Lady Courtesan of the kind travelers cross realms to see, said to glow brighter than the stars.

That life ends when buried secrets come to light and her dying father crowns her, drawing the Witch-King's shadow hounds and driving her into the river that leads across enemy lines.

She expects a dungeon and a quick death, yet the man who waits for her is as cruel and powerful as the songs claim, haunted by a war three centuries old, and he keeps refusing the execution he has every reason to order.

A charming half-orc Prince of the Beast Realm rides after her with armies at his back and offers of everything she was raised to need, but Tabitha has always known that need is not the same as want.

Trusting no one, she questions the glowing courtesans, the priestesses, and those who rule these lands while an ancient power stirs within her and whispers only she can hear.

Fighting for her usurped throne, hunted from every side, she must break the system that once owned her, even as each truth about her lineage pulls her deeper into a mystery that could consume her.