Greetings, readers! And welcome back to those of you joining us from The Debutante!
To those of you who haven't yet read the rest of The Season series, I strongly suggest you either do so now in order to avoid spoilers or read ahead at your own peril. While this story can be read as a standalone, some characters/events I reference might have you drawing a massive blank...but don't fear! That's what this introduction and, let's be honest, the comments section are for!
Without further ado, your main man, Prince Thomas...
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Once upon a time, in a kingdom...well, not so far away right now, but it will be after a few more days at sea, a crown prince fell in love with a reckless lady-in-waiting.
Unluckily for me, that prince happens to be my older brother, Andrew.
Why unluckily, you might ask? That would be thanks to my father, the king of Pretania, who signed a treaty long ago to secure his throne in a time of tumult. I daresay he'd hoped that the Ardalonians would never come calling to fulfill their arrangement, but come calling they did when my brother refused to choose a wife during his first season as an eligible bachelor.
Rather than force him to marry Dulciana, the brat of a princess Ardalone had sent, my mother found a loophole in the treaty that would allow either myself or my younger sister to take my brother's place. Not that I'm some self-sacrificing martyr or anything, but I couldn't stand the thought of sweet little Princess Anne in the bloodthirsty royal court of Ardalone, not when she's hopelessly in love with her own Pretanian lord.
So here I am, aboard a ship with a very angry Ardalonian princess, bound for the palace she calls home. A palace that, if the rumours are to be believed, is a veritable viper's nest in the middle of a country positively simmering with unrest. Reports of growing rebellion among the commoners abound, while Ardalone's nobility resides in their hilltop paradise, separated from such turmoil by walls that have never been breached in the history of recorded time.
A recipe for disaster to some, but not to me.
After spending my life cooped up in a palace, this is exactly the kind of adventure I've been waiting for.
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The Rebel Prince (The Season Series #3)
Historical FictionForced to sail to the sun-drenched kingdom of Ardalone to fulfill a marriage alliance, Prince Thomas of Pretania must choose one of the Ardalonian princesses to be his wife. But every choice comes with consequences. Spurned by Thomas' older brother...
