Thrones and Thorns

Elijah was never meant to be a prince.

He was the son of a palace servant, far from the throne and beneath the notice of nobility. Then his mother marries the king, and overnight she is branded the homewrecker who replaced a queen the kingdom still mourns.

Now Elijah carries a title he never earned in a court that does not want him. Even his stepsister, the late queen's daughter, has not spoken a word to him since the day their families were bound together.

Sent to Halstone Academy, the most prestigious royal institution in the continent, he steps into a world where bloodlines are sacred and reputation decides survival. The rumors arrive before he does, turning whispers into open contempt.

To his peers, Elijah is a stain on the monarchy. A servant's son wrapped in royal silk. And when his presence disrupts the balance between two powerful rival princes, tension ignites long before anything else can.

Because at Halstone, power is everything.
And some wars begin without swords.