Clandestine Alliance

A prince. A warrior. A love stronger than an Ashlin blade. Bateo Gunner is dead. Stationed on the royal planet of Celedon, Ashlin Warrior Nadja Kelswan is charged with acting as liaison between her country of Vanden and the Celedon tsia. The main objective is to get answers from Bateo Gunner on the conspiracy that turned Jovita Rees into a weapon and now infects a good portion of the Celedon Empire. Nadja's most important duty came from the tsia himself, to act as Prince Rohan's personal bodyguard. It is a task she takes seriously, even as the conspiracy around them thickens, following Gunner's assassination in his prison cell. Prince Rohan of Celedon has had his heart broken twice: once by the faked death of his lover, Jovita, then by her marriage to another man. Loving only one woman since childhood, it surprises him when a raven-haired Ashlin warrior haunts his dreams. She's strong, lithe, and frustratingly formal. Her stagnant, hazel eyes are so different than the twirling depths of a Celedon's. However, her training as an Ashlin has made her wise beyond her years. He finds solace in her counsel. By rights he should hate Ashlin Nadja for her interference in his reunion with Jovita, but he can't seem to help himself from falling under the warrior's spell. As the list of crimes against Celedon continues to grow. Parts are missing from shipments to outposts, security vids are tampered with, and the body of Bateo Gunner is missing from the morgue. Amidst the chaos, a new planet sends an overture of friendship to the tsia. It is an ill-timed and suspicious request as far as Nadja is concerned. Nadja's suspicions are realized when Rohan is taken ill, and his body infested with a newer more sinister nanite—one that replicates faster and has the power to compel the host to do whatever the programmer wishes. Torn between duty to her sword and her love for Rohan, Nadja takes up the mantle of protector to rid the palace of the conspirators once and for all. Even if it means giving her very life to save those she's sworn to protect.