Stronger Than Gold

Stronger Than Gold The Gold Series Book 3 June Harding Contents Trigger warning Summary of Thicker Than Gold, and Brighter Than Gold 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 Epilogue Houses Thank You Trigger warning Trigger warning: This book contains sexually explicit content. Please see below for list of trigger warnings that may spoil events in the book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dominant/submissive relationship, bondage, striking, cheating, non-monogamy. Summary of Thicker Than Gold, and Brighter Than Gold Reyah is the stunning former courtesan of Kaspian Burke, one of the four Kings of the Realm. By a twist of fate, she finds herself pregnant with his child, however Reyah has been lying to the King about her true heritage, and in order to protect her baby, she agrees to marry him. After a brutal attack on the palace, Burke deems it necessary to send Reyah and the future heir to a safehouse, but the journey does not go as planned. Reyah and the royal guard’s general, Callan Briggs, are taken captive by a notorious street gang lead by the maniacal Lazio. After Reyah believes she has lost her baby, she seeks comfort in Callan, and the two begin a physical relationship. She finally divulges to Callan that she is Northern, and an enemy to people of the Realm, believing that now that she has lost her baby, she will be ousted from the Realm and sent away by the King. Days into their capture, the palace dispatches the royal guard to search for Reyah and Callan, and Lazio discovers that Reyah is someone important, but he’s also captured another important member of the royal family, Yates, Burke’s sister. The three are eventually saved by Idona of the Sisterhood, a secretive group of women who share special abilities, with whom Yates has a romantic relationship. While recuperating before traveling back to the palace, Reyah and Callan are honest about their growing feelings for one another, and that the physical closeness they shared at first has grown into something undeniably beautiful and real. Unfortunately, Reyah discovers more disturbing news, the leader of the Kala Muata is her own brother, Kieran. Callan and Reyah finally make it back to the protection of the palace, and it’s not long after being reunited with Burke that he informs Reyah she will be accompanying him North to her former homelands, to confront the members of the Kala Muata on the attacks they’ve made against the Realm. Reyah is terrified to go and face the ghosts of her past, but Burke has left her no choice, and so the looming trip weighs heavy on her shoulders, as does her secret love for Callan. Chapter One Reyah Drip drip drip I opened my eyes and saw a swirl of hazy colours. A flick of my hand sent the colours dancing and twisting above me. Nearly out of breath, I floated to the top of the bath and pulled my face and shoulders from out of the water. Briar’s blurry form stood next to me with a towel as the water cleared from my eyes. “We don’t have much time, Princess.” I sighed and heaved myself out of the cold bath. The summer heat in Arronbach was deadly. I’d been dunking myself in cold baths twice a day, just to get an ounce of relief. Every day the sun beat down on the palace, heating the bricks like a damn oven, and I was roasting like a chicken. Briar had suggested it may be worse because I was pregnant, but I suspected—as did nearly everyone else—that I was only suited for life in the North. “No petticoats today, right?” I whined pathetically as Briar wrapped towels around me. I held one over my growing belly “Yes, petticoats.” I pouted as the lady’s maid rolled her eyes at me. “Reyah, it’s a formal event and you want to present your best.” After the palace announced the mounting war with the North, my standings with the people of the Realm was precarious. Naturally, public perception of me had shifted. Many theorized I had been planted by a scheming Kala Muata and had entrapped one of their Kings by carrying his child. I could hardly blame people for believing the story—it seemed all too convenient. The truth was, I hated the North as much as they did, but infuriatingly I had to silence my opinion and play ambassador, allaying fears that the Realm would see another war. Our convoy to my former homeland was nearly upon us. Kaspian told me we were waiting for the hottest months of summer so we could make it as far North as possible before the devastating cold made it too difficult to travel. Another week or two, he’d told me, and then we would set out. I walked out of the bathing chamber and glared at the petticoat the dresser had set out for me. Sweat was already beading at my temples, and I dreaded how miserable I’d be once I was fully wrapped up in the layers upon layers of material. “Briar, the dress is mauve. I thought we agreed on the green one.” “His Grace urged us to change dresses.” She carried on past me without making eye contact. “Why?” Briar gave a little huff. “His Grace says the mauve conveys a more demure essence than the green.” “Really? The colour of my dress is going to suddenly change people’s minds into thinking I’m not really here to plot against them?” The sass in my tone wasn’t aimed at my