Dark Verité

By Muffy Wilson

Verité, heir apparent in royal lineage and whose ascension comes at a time of other impending stipulations, was unable until to assume her rite of passage to the throne until she found the perfect mate. Secret stipulations to her royal ascension detailed in the Royal Grail would only be revealed to the Princess when the time came. She was chartered by her father, who was unable to give Verité counsel, to find the man that would share her life, her future and her bed…but not the throne.

Failure to do so doomed the coterie.

Rockledge, a prince and royal protector of his father, the King and his older brother who was heir apparent, fought with strength against those that threatened silently to take everything by deceit and trickery from his family.

Verité woke in the blazing sun on the royal sands of the beach on a distant shore that Rockledge, who discovered her sleeping, protected.

I was born when we kissed; I lived in your embrace while we loved. I died when we parted.

Would they fight, side-by-side, to the death defending all that they loved and cherished? Or would they seize their rite of passage, rise to the ascension of royalty themselves bound by danger, loyalty and love?

• Language: English
• Publisher: QPress Publishing
• Release date: Sep 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386266655

Muffy Wilson

Muffy, author of erotic, romantic stories about love, sex, hope and passion, was born in San Antonio, Texas, to traditional parents. Her father was a career officer and pilot in the U.S. Air Force which required the family to travel extensively. Muffy spent her formative years in Europe and came of age in France. She now lives a charmed life by the water in SW Florida. Muffy pretends to be a serious real estate business person but, in real life, indulges her private interest writing sexy and sensual Literotica for several publishing firms ~ Live, Laugh, Love with Passion.

Book preview

Dark Verité

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MUFFY WILSON

USA Today Bestselling Author

PROVOCATIVE ROMANCE

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Copyright © 2017 Muffy Wilson

All rights reserved.

DEDICATION

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I dedicate this book to my friend, Gina Kincade, Owner and CEO of Naughty Nights Press, who asked me to step up to shifter fantasy and submit this piece with the

full confidence that I could actually slither out of my comfort zone and try writing something new for me.

And something fun for my readers.

She believed I could do it in the face of my abject terror.

She was right.

It was fun.

She is always right.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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Edited by John Hudspith ~ http://www.johnhudspith.co.uk/

Cover Art and Design by Syneca Featherstone at OriginalSyn

https://www. syneca-originalsyn.com

All cover art and logo copyright © 2017 by Muffy Wilson

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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER:  Muffy Wilson Books

Dark Verité

Chapter One

The Journey

I woke on the sand with the sun beating down on my stinging flesh. Pools of sweat formed in my dips and curves and trickled to the sand. The sensation focused my attention on the tenderness of my skin and I thought back to my foolish long midnight swim along my journey. My mind drifted...

Less than a week ago, Father took me aside and invited me to sit down while a serious shadow lay in residence on his furrowed brow. He walked quietly to the small opening between the shutters and threw them even farther apart, letting the hot sunlight in to warm the room. I was not cold, I remember—we never are—but the golden light was uplifting. He gestured to the long sofa and asked me to sit and relax, the first sure warning that something was awry. I sat and I tried to settle in. I waited while he collected his thoughts and watched as the dust dancers rose in spiral tufts from the antique rug where he had just trod.

Are you worried about something in particular, Father?

Yes, Verité. I am worried about the future and you.

Me! Whatever for, Father?

You are heir-apparent, Verité, and your ascension comes at a time of other impending, overlapping concerns.

Yes, Father. I know my responsibilities to the coterie. I know that when you so deem it, I will lead the clan in your stead and my descendants will do the same, either here or in their own cluster, when I am gone or too old. It has always been as it will be forever.

Yes, it has always been, Verité. But there is a provision that falls every hundred years to each descendant and one more if the lineage befalls a woman.

Really, Father? I don’t remember any more stipulations to royal ascension.

No one is alive today, but me, that would.

Truly? That is interesting. And this is a rite of passage passed between generational sovereignties known only to those passing the monarchy?

Yes, it is.

And what happens if, perchance, you were to die before you passed this on to me as an obligation?

Then the Authority of State would reveal the Grail of Times and Peril to you before your coronation and you would be required to secure the vessel, but follow the instructions. No one but the Heir Apparent has ever read the Grail but the succeeding monarch.

Meaning you have never read it, yourself?

No, I have not, but you will.

Father, this is all so clandestine and imperative. It is slightly unnerving. Are you sure it is upon me for compliance?

I am. And you may never tell anyone, not a soul. You may never divulge the contents of the Grail, not even to me.

How can I effectively seek your counsel, Father, if you have not all the requirements?

This is yours to determine, my child. But, I have faith in the stellar qualities you possess and your teaching. You have studied hard, learned long and steady. And above all other, you place the wellbeing of the coterie. We must prevail to propagate. We must do our duty to protect our cluster clan.

Yes, Father, I have always known that if I must pay with my life to preserve the dominion, then I would be so directed to fight to the death.

This is that time.

Involuntarily, I rose to my feet with the dust devils dancing in the sunbeams. My head remained downcast. This was a solemn occasion, no doubt.

Yes, Royal Father.

I lifted my gaze as I said his name and locked my eyes on his.

I know only little, from the history the Queen Mother imparted to me when you were born, that you must travel from here to find your mate before you are in the Worthy Year of your life. This mate must be a mortal and prepared to live in your company here, so that the propagation of our family will continue.

But, Father...!

The clan will die out without the integration of seed from a royal mortal.

Alas, my father...

This is how it must be. We are, none of us, able to sire your heirs. Over time, our seed loses the power to procreate and every one hundred years, new blood and semen must be filtered into the children that follow.

Oh, Goddess above. Where will I go? When...?

Soon, my child, soon.

How will I know, my father?

You will know, my child. Of this I am certain. Every female before you has prevailed to achieve their destiny. They return to fulfill their duties with a chosen mate. And life prevails again.

You must leave and return with your mate before your twentieth year.

But, Father, I am not yet eighteen. Why tell me now, when there is still so much time?

Because there is actually very little time. The alchemist has determined that I have few years left and you must be prepared almost immediately to assume supremacy.

Father, when...how...this is all too much!

Comport yourself with dignity, Verité. This is your destiny for which you have trained all your life. You are strong, independent, fierce. You are creative and fast, smart as any that have ruled before you. I have raised you as I would have my sons, had they lived. Now you must live for us all. You must be your woman, secure your mate, and return to become Queen Mother.

My mind returned to the present, a salty breaker whipping my face and stinging my cheeks.

Perhaps it was tears. Perhaps