Unbreakable Soldiers Series by Megan Derr 💕 Series Tour and $20 Gift Card Giveaway 💕(Gay Fantasy Romance)

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He is kind and sweet and a sorely needed bright spot in Istari's life...

Lord Vellem is desperate to escape. His father hides from his problems in alcohol, his mother hides from her misery in drugs, and his brother fled to the relative safety of the royal palace. Vellem found solace in the Royal Army Corp of Engineers, but true escape from a life of violence remains out of reach.

Then his brother provides him with an unexpected chance: marriage to a prince of their country's oldest enemy to help bring about peace once and for all. The marriage promises Vellem not just a fresh start in a new land, but a challenge to his famed skills in building roads and bridges.

But before he can settle into his new life, tragedy strikes, and Vellem isn't certain he's up to rebuilding the ruin left in its wake.

Prince Istari has spent his life reviled: his parents wish he had never been born, the royal court of Belemere avoids him for fear of angering the king, and everyone else is kept away by his notorious reputation as a deadly sharpshooter. Now a hostage of peace in Tallideth, he is subjected to their hatred as well—even that of Regent Vellem, who once considered him a comrade in arms.

Unexpected solace comes in the form of Lord Teverem, a sad, quiet lord who assumed the title when his brother was killed in the explosion for which Istari's father is to blame. He is kind and sweet and a sorely needed bright spot in Istari's life—until Istari meets his family and learns of a dangerous family secret with unexpected ties to Istari's past, a secret that could drag Tallideth and Belemere right back into war...

Bertin is a liar and a thief. Once an orphan on the street stealing purses, his life was forever changed when he saved a boy's life—and then became that boy to the rest of the world. But one lie always leads to another, and life as a Belemeren spy planted in the Engineer Corp has led him to the role of liaison in Ruemri, a kingdom he helped Ruemri's enemies steal.

His primary duty is to watch King Sesta, which means he is himself watched by the whole of Ruemri's royal court. For a man used to being overlooked and ignored, the situation is a living nightmare. That situation is further worsened when he receives word of an unspecified terrible event that is going to take place—and then the last person he expected arrives, bringing Bertin's past and secrets with him.

from Stolen Court

Bertin sighed. "What do you want?"

Eldquest replied, "We were hoping for a word with you, regarding His Majesty."

"If you have a matter involving His Majesty, take it up with him. I do not speak for His Majesty. I merely aid him as he requires and liaise with the Tallidethen throne." As they damn well knew, so why were they wasting his time?

"It's nothing like that," Vry-Stone said hastily, breath misting in the morning air. She leaned forward ever so slightly, better showing off her tits in a morning gown cut more like an evening gown. Bertin didn't roll his eyes, but it was a near thing. Even if he was sexually attracted to people, her tits weren't good enough to overcome her glaring character flaws. "We were wondering about his birthday celebration, and thought you'd be the best to ask without taking up his valuable time."

He couldn't wait to see the look on Sesta's face when he recounted this conversation later. If they worried about wasting his time, Bertin was Moon-born. "His Majesty isn't interested in such things, as he's said several times already. I'm not sure why you think you'd get a different answer from me." He believed Sesta's exact words were that he would rather go back to being a slave than engage in one more detestable spectacle of debauchery like all the previous birthdays he'd been forced to endure, but that didn't precisely bear repeating.

Vry-Stone's eyes tightened, but she kept her miserable attempt at a smile in place. "He always was before. His birthdays are the talk of the town, year after year. People wait breathlessly for each one. Given all the recent upsets in the kingdom, something as familiar and welcome as a birthday party for our beloved king would be well in order. You have his ear. Convince him to change his mind."

"What in the Moons makes you think I of all people could change his mind on anything? Last I checked, even your precious Sun couldn't do that. Leaving that aside, I don't take orders from you, and you've given me no reason to indulge your requests. In the future, if you want something from me, I suggest not referring to me as dirt behind my back right before you make your request. Good day." Bertin slung his rifle over his shoulder, tucked his handguns away in their holsters, and shoved through the pair, deftly lifting a couple of pieces of jewelry in the process.

Old habits died hard and all that.

Back in the palace proper, he kept to servants' halls and lesser used hallways so nobody else would bother him about the birthday party. They only person more sick of hearing about it was Sesta. It had been everyone's favorite topic for the past month, and he was long wear of it. There were vastly more important things to worry about than how drunk everyone could get at a party none of them had to pay for.

Given the reparations and fines that Ruemri was still paying, it might behoove them to remember His Majesty didn't have nearly as much money as usual to spend, especially on such asinine frippery.

Not that it was really his problem. He was here to make certain Ruemri didn't try to go to war or start some other trouble. Whether or not they remained sober while they sulked and whined wasn't his concern.

Was one stupid party really worth all this fuss? Surely these people didn't require this one particular party to get drunk and fuck each other? They did that on a nigh-daily basis. Maybe it was one of those things that made sense to people who felt sexual attraction. Moons knew he'd seen lust cause people to do the craziest, twice-damned things. Why wouldn't it also drive them to obsess over one single party?

Ugh, it was too early in the morning for all this nonsense. He'd tell Sesta, let him deal with it, and go back to ignoring the matter as much as possible. He wasn't here to help whiny nobles; he was here to watch and assist Sesta.

Megan is a long-time resident of queer romance and keeps herself busy reading and writing it. She is often accused of fluff and nonsense. When she’s not involved in writing, she likes to cook, harass her wife and cats, or watch movies. She loves to hear from readers and can be found all over the internet.