Cane23

Hope they never do! Not that Ishan is merely an infidel in their eyes - and a prince, nonetheless. He's also a master of witchcraft and, above all, an abomination. More than enough reason to burn him at the stake, probably preceded by horrible torture!

Except for that strange body-swap incident with Ishan and helping Julian with the arrows, Wylan hasn't been on a real war mission yet. This is his chance to prove that he's not some fragile person who needs to be shielded from danger. Of course, Darien is concerned about his husband's safety, but both Wylan and Stephen made a good point - Ishan is family, and Wylan shouldn't be kept in a golden cage.

Rob seems to suspect something. It almost appears that his job is to keep a hawk-like watch on August. Knowledge of August's affections and preferences could be a dangerous weapon in Rob's hands!

Beautiful...though it seems like the calm before the storm!

The Book 2 is introducing a Devin as new protagonist. What’s remarkable is that Devin is not haunted by memories. He is haunted by the shape of erased meaning. “A grief shaped exactly like something, with the something cut out and the edges left to ache.” The tree remembers what human consciousness no longer can...throughout Book 1, the terror of Mister D’s world was that identity could be consumed, rewritten, redistributed. Here we discover something survived destruction - but in nonhuman form. Luka’s sacrifice did not fail because the “clever ones” were weak. It survived because reality itself cannot perfectly erase love, connection, or fate. The author describes fate as water. Not fate as destiny, prophecy, divine command, punishment...but as flow. “The ground was always shaped to carry it there” People believe they are making choices freely, and they are...but beneath those choices exists: longing, memory, love, trauma and, of course -hunger. These form invisible channels and water simply follows them. So, Devin walking toward the loud meaningless nightlife district is also fate - not because someone controls him, but because his damaged soul naturally flows toward numbness. That’s why fate is described as patient rather than dramatic. The “clever ones” are clearly the architects of the erasure. Not merely memory manipulators or ordinary conspirators, but creatures who believed reality itself could be edited. The clever ones account for kings, powerful people, major forces...Mr. D... but they ignore incidental people, emotional residue, forgotten witnesses, human unpredictability. They misunderstand reality because they think importance is hierarchical. But @CasualWanderer82 argues - small things carry enormous consequences which is deeply anti-aristocratic and anti-occult in a fascinating way. The great cosmic architects overlook the hustler, the unnamed man, the “drop of water.” and that becomes their undoing. This is almost biblical - the stone that trips the king’s horse. Power fails because it cannot imagine vulnerability as force. The “clever ones” would never build an entire metaphysical erasure system around accounting for Mouse. And yet Mouse carries names, habits, emotional histories... and that’s enough because systems can erase records - they cannot fully erase human relational residue. Mouse doesn’t arrive as prophet or hero - he arrives talking too much, half-hustling, rambling. Tthat’s exactly why he breaks the system. @CasualWanderer82 actually says - history survives most powerfully in the people no one considered important enough to silence. The chapter is ultimately arguing something profoundly human beneath all the supernatural machinery - people can be separated from truth, they can be manipulated, rewritten...they can be made to forget. But deep emotional recognition leaves marks below conscious memory, and those marks continue trying to return to one another. This chapter treats love not as emotion alone, but as a structural force of reality. The clever ones could erase the story, but they could not erase the shape the story carved into the soul.

There's a film, The Man Who Would Be King, based on a novella by Rudyard Kipling, starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine in the leading roles. In a way, Darien stands at a similar crossroads - there is enough gold and silver for all of them to return to Europe and live as wealthy, high-ranking noblemen. But then there is ambition - the lure of a crown in this ruthless land, where their doom awaits

Wow... oh boy, did I really say Charlie could be a role model? Ahahaha! Charlie needs constant babysitting!!! 😜 But this line: “Because he’s my bloody boyfriend, you annoying oaf. He did it for me.” I did not see that coming. 😱 What a fun chapter. Great job!

Well, it's highly romanticized version of the history. On the Balkans, we have the collective memory of Ottoman empire the same as Baltics about Russian (Soviet)!

The ceremonial blow, to remind him of the oaths he has just sworn, A dirty thought has crossed my mind reading this line...

They were totally not satisfied.

This is an early publication indeed... It's 7 a.m. CET, and "luckily" I couldn't sleep. Now, what do we have here? The scene in Raymond's camp looks like something straight out of an apocalyptic zombie horror movie. Sometimes reality is more terrifying than fiction. We also see the shift in Vanguard - not by the direct order of Lord Hascal, now Prince Hascal, but through his steadily growing authority and power. The rise of a dictatorship does not always happen overnight; it is often a gradual process. Darien may save the Crusades, but it is Wylan who is going to save him!

These are epic!!!

The Secret Author contest

WOW...THANK YOU!!! I love the story...eagerly waiting new chapters!!!

Well, I don't see this saga as a quest for the crown, but as a quest for the inner self. This is not the story of Darien learning to become a king; it is the story of Darien learning to become a father. And the true destination is not Jerusalem. The real journey is the search for a way back home. In the end, his soul will not be redeemed by claiming the crown, but by renouncing it.

Too bad his reign was so short! Is it true that Godfrey walked barefoot through Jerusalem out of reverence for Christ's suffering and wounds?

Oh, wow... It'll take some time to digest this chapter. Let me grab a coffee first!

Friend, watcher, spy, or helper... Ali can be any of these, perhaps changing roles from time to time. But from what we've seen so far, despite his eccentric nature, he may also serve as a voice of reason - and even a conscience. Both are exactly what Lawrence desperately needs in such a cold and isolating place.

This is actually one of the most romantic chapters you've ever written. I can easily see Alex & Neil becoming one of the best couples you've ever written, @Robert Hugill.

Despite all they've endured, Stephen and Ashot are still boys at heart, learning the complexities of boundaries, emotions, and love. And poor Emir - he clearly needs a male role model in his life (a father... or perhaps a daddy 😁). His very own Lord Hascal.

Would it be possible to have a daily schedule or timetable listing all story updates for the day? It would also be helpful to have a schedule for stories that many of us follow regularly - for example: Author X, Story Y, new chapters every Monday and Sunday. Of course, this would only apply to authors who follow a reasonably consistent posting schedule, not those who update irregularly. I think such a feature would make it much easier for readers to keep track of their favorite stories and upcoming chapter releases.

The ease and skillfulness in Taggert's approach to the job suggest that he is not merely a capable cowboy, but quite possibly someone who was born and raised on a farm. We can only speculate about what, or who...compelled him to leave home. Yet his silence seems to speak volumes.

Thinking about your earlier warnings regarding Darien's mental state and exhaustion, I've noticed that he doesn't laugh at all - not even smile. The only hint of a smile was that predatory smirk on the roof of the Betlehems' citadel. Wylan is going to have some serious work ahead of him.

So, there’s not just one, but two ex-wives - both circling like harpies, waiting to squeeze some benefit out of their former husbands whenever they spot an opportunity!

In short: use AI as a tool, not as the creator. That said, this comment was spell-checked and grammar-checked by AI. 😁