Court Intrigue & Deep World-Building
33 stories
Of Whispers and Daggers ✓ [TLRQ #2] by avadel
avadel
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| 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 • 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐲𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 | RUTHLESS POLITICS Aster Jacques' predecessor is dead, his capital ruined, and his people struggling to fight back against their most hated enemy. Determined to save the country he loves, he prepares to take the throne he fears. Upon returning home, though, the Ladies of the court connive to make him more puppet than prince. DEADLY SECRETS As he fights to untangle their web of lies, he finds a far more frightening truth-someone in the castle hides a traitorous secret. Unsure who to trust, he swears to forge his path alone. But when a vengeful witch offers him a deal and the girl he cares for tangles herself into the danger, he'll be forced to befriend darknesses he'd rather run from than face. A LAND THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE UNCONQUERABLE From within and without, Aster's world teeters on the brink of collapse. When lies, love, and war collide, even magic won't be enough to save everyone. WELCOME TO MORINEAUX ~*~ Book 2 of the Lost Roads Quartet. See Of Caverns and Casters for Book 1. Published on Amazon. Cover Art © 2021 Avadel Ink Animated Banners by @Lazybrew
The Circle of the Paw by MichaelSToledano
MichaelSToledano
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A neglected housecat runs away from his family and is tempted by the alluring world of the ferals, who steal from the human society that cared for him. 🏆AWARDS 1st Place - The Future Banned Writer Awards 2023, Fantasy (Score: 58/60) 1st Place - The Sapphire Awards 2023, Action/Adventure (Score: 96/100) 1st Place - Books of 2023 Awards, Fantasy 1st Place - Readers Choice Awards 2023 (SUAW Book Club), Other 1st Place - Golden Awards, Best Title 2nd Place - The Wonder Awards 2023, Fantasy (Score: 95/100) 2nd Place - The 2023 Flower Awards, Fantasy 3rd Place - Books of 2023 Awards, Best Character (Misha) |Featured on Wattpad's UrbanFantasy reading list: Cities of Wonder| |Featured on Wattpad's Stories Undiscovered reading list: Tales of Adventure| |Featured on NewlyWrittenBooks: Going on an Adventure| ***** 🐈 When his human family brings home an attention-stealing baby from the hospital, Akhi the housecat runs away from his best friend and the only home he's ever known. Upon entering the sewers, he discovers the world of the ferals, where animals rule and danger lurks just beneath the pavement. In order to survive, Akhi joins a group of bandits and finds that the freedom of being a feral has its perks - provided he can overcome the guilt of stealing from the humans that cared for him. 🦴 Meanwhile, Misha, the family's loyal retriever and Akhi's best friend, finds herself forbidden from searching for her missing family member by the mysterious Circle of the Paw. Torn between obeying orders and finding her friend, Misha must overcome mercenaries with sordid pasts, noblebeasts in charge of underground fiefdoms, and divided loyalty in an effort to reunite her family. ⚔️[Trigger Warning for violence and substance (catnip/milk) abuse] Cover art created by Liz Casal
Treacherous Witch by WrenMorgan
WrenMorgan
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𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. Valerie Crescent once had a promising future. In the land of Maskamere, blessed by the magic of the silvertrees, she was ready to begin her training as a priestess. Then the Drakonian Empire invaded, and Valerie lost everything. Two years later, Maskamere is a vassal of the Empire. Dressmaker by day, rebel by night, Valerie embarks on a mission to restore the silvertrees and free her country. But when an assassination plot goes wrong and her magical powers are revealed, Valerie is captured by the very man she tried to kill. • • • Content warnings: Mature themes, violence (including torture), references to slavery. See the author's note for a more complete list.
A Grace of Crowns | ☑ Queenkiller, Kingmaker #1 by AM-Prabeswar
AM-Prabeswar
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❖ QUEENKILLER, KINGMAKER Book 1 ❖ Feudal Southeast-Asia filled with magic, daemons, and a royal conspiracy. This is Isla's quest for the truth, and her slow spiral into becoming her very own worst nightmare. When the gods ascended thousands of years ago, they left behind the divine gift of theurgy. Its powers still echo amongst men, but run fiercer yet in the blood of kings and queens. And one of them will stop at nothing before Isla is dead. A betrayal lures her out of refuge and into her journey home, where she must unmask her enemies before they unmask her. The theurgy that she has had to keep hidden for many years can be her greatest ally or her most lethal foil. Only her wits can guide her through the dangerous politics of the Surikh court. But amidst the plots and schemes bubbling around her, she uncovers something far more sinister than the identity of her enemies. Something that can change her entire life; indeed, entire kingdoms. ↝ this work contains violence, profanity, and sexual references ↜ ↝ Winner of Wattys 2016 HQ Love Award ↝ Winner of FANTASCI's first season Chosen One awards ↝ Winner of The Cryptic Awards 2018 ↝ Featured in Fantasy as of 18-01-2017 ↝ Wattpad Editor's Pick January 2021
The Right to Die ✓ by avadel
avadel
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| 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 • 𝟳𝘅 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 | During a revolution to dethrone the corrupt nobility, a street-thief gets taken in by the very people he swore to fight. * * * The Capital tore away everything M'yu had: his family, his town's freedom, and any chance for him to live an honest life. While fat bureaucrats sit in their gleaming city, his people starve and die. Bent on leveling the playing field, he lures a group of Capital Knights to his side of town, ready to steal a tool that could burn their entire society to the ground. But when he saves a Capital girl's life instead, the Knight that M'yu stole from will open a door into the glittering world of courtiers. It's a deal too good for a revolutionary like him to refuse. It won't take long for him to find out, though, that when you start a fire, it doesn't burn just one house to the ground. It burns everything. * * * 𝟯𝘅 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱: @ScienceFiction, @magic, @dystopianapocalypse, @WattpadDarkFantasy, @WattpadUrbanFantasy, and more
Of Caverns and Casters ✓  [TLRQ #1] by avadel
avadel
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| 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 • 𝗔𝗺𝗯𝘆𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 | ONE RUN-AWAY PRINCE Prince Aster Jacques will one day rule the Queen's Wizard Corps. By blood and every expectation, he should be a master spellcaster. Instead, he has all the skill of some second-rate, street-corner trickster. Desperate to be the wizard his beloved country needs, he'll do whatever it takes to learn the trade--even if that means abandoning his family to chase a mysterious academy invitation. TWO DIE-HARD SCIENTISTS Half a continent away, Leavi Riveirre and Sean Rahkifellar are researchers in the underground city of Karsix. For them, spells, princes, and kingdoms are nothing but children's stories. Reality is the relentless plague unleashing death and darkness in the city. Determined to survive what they can't cure, they flee--but reaching safety will require more than braving the harsh topside winter. A LAND THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO EXIST When brutal weather and betrayal force these three together, they'll find themselves questioning everything--and each other--to survive. WELCOME TO AVADEL. ~~~ 𝟔𝐱 Grand Winner 𝟐𝟐𝐱 First Place Fantasy Winner 𝟏𝟐𝐱 First Place Action/Adventure Winner 𝟏𝟓𝐱 Featured ~~~ The Lost Roads Quartet Book 1 Published on Amazon Cover Art © 2021 Avadel Ink Animated Banners by @Lazybrew
A Tainted Story by doodooferguson
doodooferguson
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Surrounded by mountains, Valle is a city cut off from the rest of the world. Fueled by the freedom that comes with seclusion, its people have largely been left to their own devices- a place where humans have lived side-by-side with the mysterious- and powerful- spirits for generations. Fela has spent her entire life in Valle with no notion of her true lineage. Instead, she lives with her adopted mother and sister, using her spiritual powers to help out in the workshop. She may be different than her human family, but the Lodenstones are as close as anything. Still, when their tranquil little city is rocked by a natural disaster, human and spirit alike must deal with the aftermath, leaving Fela painfully aware of her differences. Suddenly, the very existence of spiritkind has now been put into jeapordy- including Fela. The Lodenstones must venture into an infected world- and face their history, to boot- for the sake of a single daughter... and for a solution to a quickly approaching catastrophe that will rock the world.
Blank Slate | ONC2023 by ToWolfKin
ToWolfKin
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|| ONC2023 SHORTLISTER x 5 FEATURED || "𝙰 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎." Denizen is Blank Slate, the number one villain in the region-except he doesn't remember it. With only a cryptic note telling him his eight rules, he sets out to discover just exactly who he is and what he did to become the number one villain. When his first lead takes him straight into the heroes' hands, Denizen struggles to keep his villain alias secret and play the confused and innocent citizen, all the while digging deeper for answers. But as he gets closer to the truth-and the heroes get hotter on his tail--two questions become painfully loud: Is he good? And should he let the heroes catch him? [][][01000101001101100-01101100][][] An ONC 2023 Novella || Round 2 Winner 25/04/2023 || ONC's Ambassadors' Pick 25/04/2023 || ONC 2023 Longlister 19/05/2023 || ONC 2023 Shortlister 31/05/2023 || Featured by Mystery on Curiouser & Curiouser 25/08/2023 || Featured by ScienceFiction on Parallel Worlds 31/10/2023 || Featured by ScienceFiction on Sci-Fantasy 7/9/2024 || Featured by ScienceFiction on Ambassadors' Pick 25/3/2025 || Featured by Science Fiction on Superheroes 25/9/2025 ***Exclusively on W A T T P A D. If you are reading this elsewhere, your device is liable to malware.***
Ashes to Ashes | ✓ by TheConfusedTurtle
TheConfusedTurtle
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||𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫|| [𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭...] The princess of Niveus is cursed. Overflowing with magic she can't control, the young heir sets her kingdom on a path of despair, and consequently invites misfortune and death into her midst. A fire burns within her, one that will turn the whole world to ash if it is to be unleashed. Or so Felix was told by the queen of the opposing kingdom of Furvus. He is given a simple task: kill the princess and in return, he will be pardoned from the consequences of his countless murders. Being an assassin raised to do nothing but kill, he sets out eager to complete his mission and earn his freedom. The price of one girl's blood is a small one to pay if it means he can get away from his past. But the truth is not so black and white, and Felix finds his attention snatched away from his mission by the mystery behind Princess Aiko. When her attendant and seer promises him knowledge in exchange for his service, he must choose between his mission and his safety. As tensions arise between Felix, himself, and his kingdom, he learns that he must trust the very center of his problems if he wants to make it out alive. Together, he and Aiko might be able to uncover the truth behind her curse and put a stop to the plot of Furvus's power-hungry Queen. ✴︎20x Featured | Editor's Choice February 2023 ~Completed! ~Cover by the fantastic @-aceospades- ! ~Book One in the Ashes Duology
The Patriarch's Court by WrenMorgan
WrenMorgan
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𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞. Trapped in a land without magic, Valerie must find a way home if she is to regain her freedom. But she's not the only one in trouble. Her captor, Lord Avon, has caught the attention of the Drakonian Senate, and there are plenty in Drakon who would see him fall. In a court of lies and intrigue, Valerie and Avon may have to work together to survive. • • • This is a sequel to Treacherous Witch. Read that first to avoid being spoiled! Content warnings: Mature themes, violence (including torture), references to slavery. See the intro for a more complete list.