Overview

Duchess Azolaria "Zola" Thalassa Varnai has everything-status, privilege, power. And none of it feels like hers.

At twenty-one, she's in line for Lysvenia's throne, but all she dreams about is freedom. Until freedom arrives in the form of Commander Reya Stravik: the King's most stoic, disciplined soldier assigned to be her personal bodyguard. Older, sharp-eyed, and impossible to read, Reya is everything Zola isn't-and everything she can't stop wanting.

What begins as a reluctant partnership slowly transforms into something neither of them expected: late-night vulnerability, whispered truths, sparring matches that blur the line between tension and desire. But in a world where duty dictates love, and power complicates every glance, their connection is as dangerous as it is inevitable.

When political unrest stirs and threats become real, Zola must decide not just what kind of ruler she wants to be-but who she wants by her side when everything begins to fall apart.