**Warning! Contains gore, violence, drinking, smoking, and other themes of war**
June, 1948. The war began three years ago. The Tsar said the fight in Asia would be over by now, that the losses from the Great War would be reclaimed. Now? Russia was fighting a two front war again, just as she lost in the war that ended a mere generation before.
For Arkadiy Yanovich, an aspiring writer, as he got conscripted into the army and pulled out of college to fulfill his duties to the Motherland, he was more concerned if he'd make it out alive with his comrades, and less of whatever victory he'd bring home.
(Hey! Quick author note: this is part of a bigger alternate history series I'm writing, I just wanted to write this short story I thought of real quick and put it out there!)
Just when she's decided to leave the Town, Lady Cressida Belverst is forced to marry Lord Calan Haverston, the man who coincidentally knows a way out. Agreeing to marry for all the wrong reasons, can Cressida and Calan find out where their hearts truly belong?
***
It is impossible to leave the Town, but one woman is determined to escape with the help of her betrothed.
Lady Cressida Belverst has always been judged as a walking scandal. Oh, how she tries (on some rare occasions) to be proper! When her parents arrange for her to marry a rich lord, Cressida has had enough. She has to leave the Town because she will not be forced to live with a man she doesn't love. But what happens if the very man she's betrothed to is the only one who can help her get out?
Calan Haverston, the Lord of Easton, takes the risk and helps his betrothed by using his knowledge of the Town's secrets because he is as willing as she to stay free of marriage for reasons completely different. He has dark secrets he cannot share with her, and his life is not one he can likewise open to anyone. But what happens when she leaves after awakening desires he thought he has under control? And what happens when he finds himself longing for her?
Cressida goes to a completely different place, one she has only heard in stories and read in books, with hopes of finding what her heart has always longed for. But love, mystery and secrets will chase her and it will only be a matter of time before she realizes what her heart truly desires.
*This story is a standalone title in the Haverston Family series.