The Duchess: Tales of Kelnore

By Hannah E Carey

Their love is forbidden, but she's willing to pay the price.

The daughter of an emperor, Faustina has been raised to be two things: beautiful and silent. As her wedding draws near, she has resigned herself to the fate of a lonely and loveless marriage, until a chance meeting with a stranger from the far north promises to alter her future. Idris is everything she has dreamed of and the world he speaks of is unlike anything she has ever experienced. Faustina quickly finds herself falling for both his alluring ideas and his intoxicating touch, but does she dare risk giving her heart to Idris?

The Duchess is a low spice romantic fantasy novella and a prequel to The Hunter: Tales of Pern Coen. Please note that as a prequel, The Duchess does end with an atypical HEA.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Serenity Star Press LLC
• Release date: Jan 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201978549

Book preview

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Copyright © 2020 by Hannah E. Carey

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Dedication

To my readers who requested to hear Idris and Faustina’s story.

Contents

1. Chapter 1

2. Chapter 2

3. Chapter 3

4. Chapter 4

5. Chapter 5

6. Chapter 6

7. Chapter 7

8. Chapter 8

9. Chapter 9

10. Chapter 10

11. Chapter 11

12. Chapter 12

13. Chapter 13

14. Chapter 14

Epilogue

Continue the adventure ...

Also By

About the Author

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Chapter one

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Duty

The day she had long dreaded had finally arrived. Faustina stared blankly out the window overlooking the bustling city of Talekos, while her handmaidens, Elpis and Laelia, prepared her to present herself before her uncle, the Imperial Regent of Kelnore. Today, she would learn who it was that she was to marry. In less than a month, she would come one step closer to fulfilling her duty as both a princess and a duchess.

She had been luckier than most over the past few years, spared having to be married off at the young age of sixteen or seventeen. Her uncle, Girogos, had been lenient, allowing her freedom until her twentieth birthday. But today, his leniency would come to an end. It was time for her to do her part for the empire; to marry well and bear her husband healthy sons.

Laelia and Elpis were quiet while they finished pinning her hair, but she knew that they were as anxious as she was to discover whom she was to marry. It would be up to her husband to decide if her handmaidens would become a part of their new household, though Faustina was determined to do what she could to help them maintain their positions. Elpis and Laelia had been with her for five years now and she had no intentions of abandoning them. She had prayed to the gods every night since hearing of her impending wedding, pleading with them to grant her a husband who would allow such a thing.

Finished, Your Highness, Laelia murmured as the two women backed away.

Faustina remained where she was for a moment, studying herself in the vanity. As always, her handmaidens had done an admirable job making certain that she would live up to her mother and uncle’s scrutiny. Her dark hair was elegantly pinned up in a mass of curls and though it was largely for looks, with the rising heat of the day she was thankful to have the thick locks up off of her neck. Her cream-colored gown, with its high waist, was both slimming and sophisticated; the multiple layers of sheer fabric rippling like water when she moved. Cosmetics had been carefully applied to her face, bringing out the rich brown of her eyes. On the outside, she was precisely what she was expected to be: the picture of feminine perfection. On the inside she felt as if she might vomit at any moment.

Truly, she had never expected to marry for love, as some lucky commoners did. The nobility, in particular the Imperial family, did not have such a luxury. While she hoped for a man she could at least form a friendship with, she would settle for one who was neither cruel nor thirty years her senior. Elpis brought over her soft silk slippers and Faustina’s stomach churned as the handmaiden helped her into them.

As Faustina got to her feet, there was a knock at the door, followed by the presence of her younger brother, Stelios, being announced by her guards. Some of the tightness in her chest eased. After the death of their father, she and her brother had grown close. Since their father’s passing, their mother had not been much of a mother and for countless years it had felt to Faustina as if her true family only consisted of Stelios. His presence would be certain to help soothe her fractious nerves on a day like this one.

When she crossed the room, her guards opened the doors to her bedchamber and she stepped into her sitting room where Stelios waited. He was the striking image of their father with his shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes. In his bright red shirt, embellished with the silver serpent of Kelnore, his crisp black pants and polished boots, he looked every inch the Crown Prince. Soon to be Emperor, she reminded herself as she walked up to him. He was eighteen, two years younger than she, and next year he would be old enough to take his place as Kelnore’s leader. To her, however, he would always be her little brother.

You look stunning, he said, nodding in approval before getting to his feet.

Hopefully Mother will not have any complaints, she replied.

As if she has any room to, he muttered.

Faustina ignored the slight at their mother, Myrrhine, taking his arm when he offered it. She had long given up trying to salvage her own relationship with their mother, much less Stelios’. After their father died, Myrrhine had fallen into a dark place, not able to care for her children, much less have anything to do with holding up her husband’s empire. At first when Myrrhine had sought comfort in Girogos, Faustina had had hoped that a better life would be in store for them, but after the two married, Girogos had made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with his brother’s children. In turn, Myrrhine had only become more distant.

Faustina pushed the dark thoughts aside as she and Stelios left the sitting room, more guards opening doors before Stelios led her out into the airy, alabaster hallways of the Imperial Palace. As they walked to the throne room, they passed by an open breezeway and she could feel the heat of the sun’s rays, though the polished marble floors remained cool under her feet. To their northern neighbors, the arid heat was considered a curse, but to Faustina it spoke of home.

It’s a good match that Uncle has made, Stelios said as they walked. You’ll be well provided for.

She nodded, swallowing hard and trying to ignore her quivering stomach. It was a strange reversal of roles after spending so many years feeling as if she were the one raising her younger brother. But now that Stelios had come of age, he inhabited a very different place in the world than she did. He was a man now and not just that, he was Crown Prince along with a newly appointed captain in their uncle’s army. Stelios was a leader and in control of his own destiny, while she was little more than a pawn.

Is this man someone you know? she asked.

Someone I know of. Stelios paused, casting her a sidelong glance. I think you’ll be happy. He has enough prestige and money to keep you comfortably.

She nodded, a sinking feeling settling