ZylahTriono
His youthful sovereignty is known throughout the land, but his voice is rarely his own.
Seventeen-year-old Stewart II wears the crown of Scotland with trembling shoulders. Small, sickly, and orphaned too young, he rules a kingdom he cannot touch-watched by advisors, bound by ceremony, and haunted by the towering shadow of his father. Every hour of his life is controlled. Every word he speaks is written for him.
His only freedom lives in stolen glances and quiet moments with Joan, a royal guard whose strong hands have shielded him from more than just blades. She is his protector, his secret love-and the one thing he can never have.
As the weight of royal duty tightens around his throat, Stewart must reckon with a bitter truth: he may be king, but he is not free.
In a palace of marble, gold, and lies... even the flowers have learned how to mourn.