{Wattys 2018 Winner - The Contemporaries} Versailles, France 1789: Where the only things more prevalent than opulence and wealth, are secrets.
At the dawn of the French Revolution, Paris is divided. In the glittering palace of Versailles, courtiers party without a care in the world, but in the city, people must fight to stay alive.
Eighteen-year-old courtier Gabriel de la Marche is part of both worlds. When Gabriel was fourteen, his older sister went missing, and desperation for answers led him to strike a deal with an underground organization of assassins-they would use their connections to help Gabriel find his sister, if Gabriel agreed to kill members of nobility under the alias L'Ange de la Mort. Four years later, he still hasn't found his sister, and the repercussions of his decision are catching up with him. But he fears it might be too late to turn back now.
The daughter of a French mother and a wealthy English earl, Lizabeth survived in the womb when her twin brother did not. Believed by her family to be cursed, she has grown up shamed and unloved, locked away in her father's estate. That is, until Lizabeth's mother strikes a deal of her own. If Lizabeth travels to Versailles and kills L'Ange de la Mort, she'll be granted her freedom.
At the palace, Gabriel and Lizabeth fall headfirst into love, neither of them knowing the other's secret. Amid lavish court life, Lizabeth desperately searches for the identity of L'Ange de la Mort while Gabriel searches for the person rumored to want him dead. And when the truth is finally revealed, they discover they've become entrapped in a plot bigger than either of them could have imagined. One which could change all of France.
stunning cover by storms_and_seas!
aesthetics by makovea!
Fauna Clarice Rheasydia is one of two of the most feared assassins in all of Ker. The Ebony Nightingale. Trained since four, her identity has been kept secret, leaving only rumors of her bloody wake to whisper through the streets. Little do they know that the blood pooling at her feet isn't that of her victims, but instead that of someone she may have never truly known.
Lance Arthur Rheasydia, The Sinister Fox. Trained alongside his sister to protect those he cares for, more so now than ever after the death of his soulmate and betrayal of his best friend. He has no path left to follow aside from that of his family, and even that is beginning to narrow. Or is it widening?
Darius Zandro Rosendal is sick of playing the picture-perfect Crown Prince of Vandaria. His father sees nothing but a ghost when he's nearby, too busy praying to the Gods and their Saints that his wife's womb carries another boy. Darius's life force runs through the veins of his guard and best friends. He has the family he wants, all the luxury wealth can buy, but still finds something missing. That is until an unexpected visitor gives him hope for the life he's only dreamt of.
Can they keep the demons coming from every direction from breaking down the walls? Are they capable of fulfilling their destiny? Or will they fail and damn the world to its crumbling end? This is just the beginning, and hope is running thin.
**Average Word Count Per Chapter: 4,000
**Edited (x1) LET ME KNOW IF YOU SPOT GRAMMAR ISSUES!
NOTE FROM ME!
- I very much model my works to resemble published examples, so there are no notes in any chapters from me, trigger warnings for chapters, etc. Just the world my brain likes to escape to every now and then.
Thanks for reading!