The King's Queen

The King’s Queen THE KING’S QUEEN SERIES BOOK ONE HAYDN HUBBARD Copyright © 2023 by Haydn Hubbard All rights reserved. Book Cover Design by ebooklaunch.com No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. To everyone who searches for themselves between the lines of these pages. Welcome home. Contents 1. Prologue 2. Verosa 3. Verosa 4. Rowan 5. Verosa 6. Verosa 7. Verosa 8. Verosa 9. Rowan 10. Verosa 11. Verosa 12. Verosa 13. Verosa 14. Rowan 15. Verosa 16. Verosa 17. Rowan 18. Verosa 19. Verosa 20. Verosa 21. Verosa 22. Verosa 23. Verosa 24. Rowan 25. Verosa 26. Verosa 27. Verosa 28. Verosa 29. Verosa 30. Rowan 31. Verosa 32. Verosa 33. Rowan 34. Rowan 35. Verosa 36. Rowan 37. Verosa 38. Verosa 39. Rowan 40. Verosa 41. Rowan 42. Emilie 43. Verosa 44. Rowan Chapter 1 Prologue The boy and the girl entered the woods about an hour ago as the church bells rang. The girl came first, sprinting in with her skirts in hand right while the third toll chimed. Her cheeks were painted red, and she panted from the exertion, her clear blue eyes scanning her surroundings. She couldn’t have been older than ten years. The trees were dense, and the sweet scent of bread wafted through the air from a nearby bakery. Her stomach gave an audible rumble. “Vera!” The boy followed momentarily, a breathy whine escaping his thin lips. He was much tanner than her, with a mop of dark curly hair crowning his head. He stood regally compared to her slouch, though he was a few inches shorter than her. The girl, Vera, popped out her hip and crossed her arms, an organic and amusing dynamic threading between the two. “You’ve gotten slow,” she said, still breathing heavily. The smug smirk imprinted upon her lips never faltered, even as the boy began to blush. “Or maybe you’ve gotten faster,” he countered quickly, like a skilled swordsman parrying a blow. “Maybe.” She puffed out her chest proudly. “How will you ever become captain of the guard when you can’t even beat me at a small race, Blaine?” He mumbled something unintelligible, and Vera giggled. The two ran through the trees again, straying further and further from the palace. A third child set forward, tiny hands outstretched to join them, when his mother caught his shoulder to pull him back. He sighed as the dying sunlight ceased to warm his face, and he was forced back into the cool shade. “Why can’t I go play with them, just this Chapter 2 Verosa Through ragged breaths, I can hear the palace guard closing in behind me, but I won’t let them take me back. Not today. My bare feet slap against the cold stone floor as I sprint down one of the castle’s many hallways, billowy skirt in hand. My lungs burn as I gulp down the dank morning air with greedy breaths, but I don’t dare stop for a second. I will my legs to move faster when I hear the clattering of armor grow closer. “She went this way!” a man shouts. He sounds too close for comfort. Quickly, I turn around another corner, scanning for an exit. In such a large and grand palace, one would think there’d be more windows or stairwells rather than hallways with dead ends. And I was so sure I had seen something earlier… “Found you.” The open window at the end of the hallway promises freedom, and the pale light of the day seeps into the darkened hallway. Five paces away, only five small paces, and freedom is mine. I check to find no one else in the hallways. They’ve made this too easy today. Laughing, I hoist myself onto the windowsill, letting the wind dance through my hair. The inner city lays in the distance, just beyond the palace walls. I let myself dream of what might happen if I finally escape past those walls into the inner city. Leaning a bit further out, I can smell the fresh bread wafting from the bakery and hear the clacking of hooves below. Looking down, I can see a small procession making its way towards the palace entrance. The carriage bears the crest of the Tesslari empire. Strange, considering they