Castle Town 4

Castle Town 4 Anya Merchant Copyright © 2023 Anya Merchant All rights reserved Kindle Edition This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental. This work is intended for adults only. It contains substantial sexually explicit language and scenes that may be considered offensive by some readers. None of the characters engaging in sexual conduct in this work of fiction are under the age of 18, legally unable to give consent, or related by blood. Contents Castle Town 4 CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER 7 CHAPTER 8 CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 CHAPTER 13 CHAPTER 14 CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 17 CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 20 CHAPTER 21 CHAPTER 22 CHAPTER 23 CHAPTER 24 CHAPTER 25 CHAPTER 26 CHAPTER 27 CHAPTER 28 CHAPTER 29 CHAPTER 30 CHAPTER 31 CHAPTER 32 CHAPTER 33 CHAPTER 34 CHAPTER 35 CHAPTER 36 CHAPTER 37 CHAPTER 38 CHAPTER 39 CHAPTER 40 CHAPTER 41 CHAPTER 42 PREVIOUSLY Still reeling from the departure of his beloved companion, Ruby, Prince Koa attempted to get to the bottom of a new spat of dustwalker murders. The path to proving the innocence of his old friend, Brin, and the new monster he’d become, leads Koa to a new threat — the Blackrope Guild, who’d been arranging murder scenes to cast suspicion on the monster. In the process of raiding the Blackrope Guild’s outpost and securing their ill-gotten gains, Koa ran afoul of Lord Claudius, Sword of the King, who challenged him to an honor duel over the possession of the spoils. Koa proved victorious, permanently maiming Lord Claudius, who met a swift end at the merciful hand of Underqueen Avina. Chafing against his mother’s authority, he set out to Twinfalls with Verity, the two of them finally testing the waters of romance with one another. Meanwhile, Underqueen Avina hosted Underqueen Genevieve of the Clawlands. Despite doing her best to convince her of the foolishness of rushing forward into a war against the Estorians, the Ostean’s western neighbor, she was unable to secure a durable commitment for peace. Avina and Petra began experiencing an anomaly through which they exchange bodies. Avina was treated to more than just the day-to-day minutia of her esper’s life. Petra’s budding romance with Prince Makoa was, needless to say, a complication Avina struggled with both emotionally and physically. Avina implored Haza to seek out a cure in Sabantius. A last glimpse through Petra’s eyes revealed to her that her trusted esper had been meeting with Thunderclaw, the king’s overly-ambitious esper, in secret. CHAPTER 1 Koa had always harbored a hidden desire for Gladetown to expand its way into the upper echelons of the largest cities of Osteanus. Staring at Twinfalls from a distance did a remarkable job of sobering that wish. Though referring to Twinfalls as “a large city” felt like issuing a flattened description. Twinfalls, the capital of Osteanus and its center of trade. Twinfalls, whose eponymous cliffs forced barges heading north up the Regus River to disembark and pay their taxes before arriving at the Northern Sea. Twinfalls, with marble statues on every paved street corner and more stonework than the rest of Osteanus put together. “Taking in the view?” Verity brought her horse up alongside his, looking somewhat bored. They stood on the coastal road, rather than the glass road which followed the river, which meant they had the view of Coldwater Bastion from the ground. The ancient castle had been chiseled into the cliffs in the time before modern history and utilized the waterfalls that flowed in front of its face in various interesting ways, not limited to defending its gates and sewage disposal. “You grew up here, no?” asked Koa. Verity nodded but chose not to elaborate. She looked tenser in her saddle than she had across most of their journey. Her dark hair was tied back with a piece of cord, the tail tucked neatly into the neckline of the cloak she wore to keep warm against the late autumn weather. “It must have been busy.” Koa leaned back slightly on his horse as a group of guards wearing the king’s golden seal rode through their quiet conversation. “I went to the academy but… gods. I basically rode in on a carriage and spent the entirety of it within a stone’s throw of the school itself.” “You’re intimidated.” She spoke it as a statement where a normal servant might politely ask the question, or just shut up and mind their business. “Intimidated is entirely the wrong word,” he snapped. “More of a cautious respect. A wise and sage respect born of solid instincts and a mind for—” “Coming through!” Another guard bolted by on horseback, cloak flapping between them like a hastily pulled stage curtain. Horny, who’d spent the latter half of the journey trotting along on the ground, flapped his wings and briefly settled on Koa’s horse. “It’s a fair response to feel a little wary,” said Verity, with that tone again. Ever since that first night on the road, the sex in the tiny, creaky inn bed, things had been a little different between them. It was as though Verity had raised the bar and never tired of teasing him and daring him to rise over it again. “I suppose it’s closer to wondering how it would feel to call it all mine,” he said. “I felt like I understood Harvestglade. This place, these people… all of this wealth.” “More than you can handle?” asked Verity. He resisted the urge to glare at her or hit back with some vulgar gesture. She certainly hadn’t been more than he could handle. Her pale skin, body built more like a dancer than a spy, not that Koa had much for comparison in either case. Her soft, small breasts, buttocks so toned that he