The manor had never felt so quiet.
Outside, dawn had not yet broken.
Ashford Manor stood wrapped in darkness, its ancient stone walls holding centuries of memories that no one living could remember.
Inside...
Liora couldn't sleep.
She sat beside the bedroom window, wrapped in a shawl, watching the rain slide down the glass.
Her thoughts refused to settle.
*"Your Majesty."*
The words replayed endlessly.
She had married a man she believed was a mysterious businessman.
Instead...
She had married a king.
A king who feared the sun.
A king whose people had arrived not to overthrow him, but to remind him of an ancient duty.
She looked down at the wedding ring on her finger.
How much of her marriage had been real?
How much had been built on secrets?
And yet...
When she searched h
