Four years ago, Prince Marcus was imprisoned in a tower with only his servant-bodyguard for company. His crime? Falling in love with the daughter of his father's rival.
After the spell keeping them trapped breaks, the prince and servant escape to discover that the war Marcus wished to avoid already came and claimed the lives of his family. Penniless, homeless, and the target of an assassin sent by the father of the woman he hoped to marry, the erstwhile prince sets out to reassure himself that his beloved is alive and well.
But Princess Adriana is about to wed a wealthy lord, and when a brokenhearted Marcus and his friend accept jobs as servants, they find themselves in the last place they should be-serving Adriana's betrothed in the castle of a king who wants Marcus dead.
Yet the princess may still have feelings for him and her betrothed is more cruel than charming. With his life and love at stake and only days until the wedding, Marcus will find his resolve to achieve his dreams tested.
The Crownless Prince, a gender-swapped retelling of Maid Maleen, is part of Once Upon a Prince, a multi-author series of clean fairy tale retellings. Each standalone, independent story features a swoony prince fighting for his happily ever after.
This standalone story is set in the world of Selina R. Gonzalez's The Miraveld Chronicles, about two hundred years prior to that series.
Content: Fade-to-black (married)
TW: Brief scenes of physical abuse