The Gilded Shadow

Elara, a sun-kissed healer with a secret - the illegitimate daughter of a Grand Duke and a humble maid - possesses the magic of light. Born into a world of shadows and whispers, she hides her power, living a life of quiet servitude until fate intervenes. To prevent a devastating war between the realms of light and shadow, she's forced into a marriage of political convenience with Lord Valerian, a man as cold and enigmatic as the shadows he commands.

Valerian, a master of shadow magic, bears the scars of a brutal past - the Siege of Blackwood, a battle that shattered his world and left him haunted by horrors he witnessed. Desperate for vengeance and consumed by grief, he made a pact with a dark entity, gaining immense power but losing his way. He is a prisoner of his own darkness, a man torn between the noble soldier he once was and the shadow he has become.

Their union is a fragile treaty, bound together by duty and shared destiny, Elara and Valerian must navigate a treacherous court rife with betrayal and hidden agendas. Their contrasting mystic powers - hers a beacon of hope, his a shroud of darkness - clash as fiercely as their personalities . But amidst the political machinations and the simmering tension, an undeniable attraction ignites. As they fight to control their powers and their burgeoning feelings, they unearth a conspiring far greater than either could have imagined. A secret that could shatter the fragile peace they've forged and reveal the true cost of their union.
Will their love blossom amidst the shadows, or will their opposing forces destroy them both? Their destinies - and the fate of their kingdom - hang precariously in the balance.