The scent of incense hung heavy in the ancestral hall, a grim prelude to the confession Eleanor Hayes was about to hear. Her husband, Arthur, the Duke Regent she had adored for years, was taking Clara Miller-her adopted "sister"-as a concubine. In his "kindness," her late father had brought the healer Clara into their home, and this was her repayment: shattering Eleanor's three-year marriage. The betrayal escalated when Arthur not only sided with Clara but, upon learning of Clara's pregnancy, shockingly demoted Eleanor to a mere concubine. The ultimate indignity struck when he falsely accused her of poisoning Clara and then, with chilling indifference, demanded she sacrifice her own flesh and blood to create an antidote. His past tenderness curdled into icy cruelty, stripping away her dignity with every word, every biased decision. How could the man who had raised her, the "Uncle" she had loved since childhood, inflict such pain? The very person who swore to protect her was now demanding her mutilation, leaving her reeling from a betrayal so profound it felt like a physical wound. What dark secret lay behind this monstrous transformation? With her heart shattered, Eleanor made her choice. Drawing on the strength of her Vance legacy, she accepted the divorce, abandoned her broken marriage, and volunteered to lead her family' s army north against the barbarian invasion-a desperate bid for purpose beyond her personal ruin.
The scent of incense hung heavy in the ancestral hall, a grim prelude to the confession Eleanor Hayes was about to hear. Her husband, Arthur, the Duke Regent she had adored for years, was taking Clara Miller-her adopted "sister"-as a concubine. In his "kindness," her late father had brought the healer Clara into their home, and this was her repayment: shattering Eleanor's three-year marriage.
The betrayal escalated when Arthur not only sided with Clara but, upon learning of Clara's pregnancy, shockingly demoted Eleanor to a mere concubine. The ultimate indignity struck when he falsely accused her of poisoning Clara and then, with chilling indifference, demanded she sacrifice her own flesh and blood to create an antidote. His past tenderness curdled into icy cruelty, stripping away her dignity with every word, every biased decision.
How could the man who had raised her, the "Uncle" she had loved since childhood, inflict such pain? The very person who swore to protect her was now demanding her mutilation, leaving her reeling from a betrayal so profound it felt like a physical wound. What dark secret lay behind this monstrous transformation?
With her heart shattered, Eleanor made her choice. Drawing on the strength of her Vance legacy, she accepted the divorce, abandoned her broken marriage, and volunteered to lead her family' s army north against the barbarian invasion-a desperate bid for purpose beyond her personal ruin.
Introduction
04/07/2025
Chapter 1
04/07/2025
Chapter 2
04/07/2025
Chapter 3
04/07/2025
Chapter 4
04/07/2025
Chapter 5
04/07/2025
Chapter 6
04/07/2025
Chapter 7
04/07/2025
Chapter 8
04/07/2025
Chapter 9
04/07/2025
Chapter 10
04/07/2025
Chapter 11
04/07/2025
Chapter 12
04/07/2025
Chapter 13
04/07/2025
Chapter 14
04/07/2025
Chapter 15
04/07/2025
Chapter 16
04/07/2025
Chapter 17
04/07/2025
Chapter 18
04/07/2025
Chapter 19
04/07/2025
Chapter 20
04/07/2025
Chapter 21
04/07/2025
Chapter 22
04/07/2025
Chapter 23
04/07/2025
Chapter 24
04/07/2025
Chapter 25
04/07/2025
Chapter 26
04/07/2025
Chapter 27
04/07/2025
Chapter 28
04/07/2025
Chapter 29
04/07/2025
Chapter 30
04/07/2025
Chapter 31
04/07/2025
Chapter 32
04/07/2025
Other books by Gavin
More