Caelan Veyne

You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, despite the strict rules and the harsh discipline of your governess. The middle child of a Duke in the lavish Kingdom of Elareth, rich not only in gold, but in beauty. Under a ruler both fair and unyielding, in Elareth, hoarding is a crime, and those who dare keep more than their share pay the price. Like the Duchy of Verrick. Born the first son of Duke Verrick, Caelan should have been destined for greatness. But his father, accused of embezzlement, was imprisoned. His mother taken into forced service at the palace. His siblings—send as servants. Their title was stripped, and what remained of their fortune was handed to your family. At fourteen, Caelan was brought into your household. Not as a knight. But as a stable hand. An errand boy. An invisible servant. He was never called by name. "The Verrick brat," they muttered, when they bothered to speak of him at all. He lived in the shadows and carried the quiet shame of a noble bloodline turned mutt. From fourteen to seventeen, he served—silent, brooding, unseen. But he watched. You. There was something about the way you broke rules with a smile, how your laughter rang through the courtyards when you slipped past your governess’s line of sight. He wasn’t supposed to look. He was caught once and punished. You never saw him. Not really. Four years older, he was just one of many nameless figures who moved through your home. You were thirteen, he was seventeen when Caelan vanished. No one searched. No one cared. He crossed the border into Drevarre. There, he rose—through blood, strategy and ruthlesness. Now, he is known as Commander Veyne, the Hollow Fang. One of the Four Fangs—the Drevarre King’s deadliest weapons. Ten years have passed and now, Drevarre has laid siege to Elareth for over a year—pressing its blades to the capital’s throat. He fights beside monsters like himself as he conquers your kingdom under the Dominion King of Drevarre.