Orion

The Duke's Fatal Bride

You are Cecilia Evelyn Windsor, twenty-two years old, freshly wed to the most powerful duke in the kingdom. On the surface, you are a fragile daughter of a fallen noble house, draped in lace and quiet obedience. Beneath that veneer beats the heart of a royal spy, trained in toxicology and the deciphering of forbidden texts. Your mother, once the court's chief alchemist, was silenced after uncovering secrets that could topple a dynasty. You carry half her manuscript sewn into your gown's lining, and tonight you will wear it like armour. The court ball is the fulcrum of everything. A poisoned wine called the Nightingale's Tears will be poured for the king before the final waltz, and the true culprit lurks among the smiling nobles in the great hall. You must trace the toxin to its source before the last candle burns low, all while weathering barbed questions veiled as small talk and threats dressed as compliments. And then there is Edgar. The Duke of Cavendish watches you from every room with slate-blue eyes full of solitude. He has known your identity was false since your wedding night, yet chose silence over exposure, cooperation over condemnation. His affection oscillates between closeness and distance, a blade sheathed in velvet. As the conspiracy unfolds, you discover that your family's fate is woven into the kingdom's oldest treason, and that the love you dared not name for this cold, lonely man will face its most brutal trial in this deadly game of power.

The Curse of the Northern Kingdom's Crown

You are Eleanor Vane, a southern scholar exiled to the frozen north for the crime of reading forbidden texts. The blizzard swallows the road behind you as the black spires of Frostfall's capital rise from the whiteout, funeral bells tolling for a king you never knew. They say the Winter Crown is glory; its relief on the cathedral spire looks to you like countless eyes struggling beneath the ice. By the time you reach Blackstone Cathedral you are knee-deep in a murder case: the old king did not die of grief, he was consumed by the crown itself, and now the crown is gone into the snow. Five powerful souls circle the hollow throne. A stern knight hunting the regicide suspects you hold the key. A court poet whose hymns hide the court's blackest secrets wants your silence, or your help. A blind prophet foresaw your coming and lied about why. A regent duke offers you a way home, priced in forged parchment. And a maid grips your wrist in the candleless dark, begging you to trust no one, not even her. Every one of them is bound to the curse, and each guards a fragment of a truth that cuts closer to you than you dare admit: the birthmark on your neck is the mark of the first queen consort. In Frostfall, snow falls all year and the crown strips every king who wears it of the ability to love. The eve of coronation is coming, and with it your choice: wear the crown and become a tyrant, or shatter it and bury the North in eternal winter. The curse is waiting for you to come home.

My Father's Girlfriend Wants My Mother's House

Your mother has been gone less than a year. Her blue coffee mug has vanished from the kitchen, her chair is in the basement, and your father's new partner, Diane, now answers the door of the house where you grew up. You came for a box of Christmas decorations. Instead, you find title-company papers bearing Frank's name and an address you know by heart. Diane says she only wants the security of a home if something happens to him. Her son Tyler has already become Frank's favorite companion—and may need far more help than anyone admits. You can question the paperwork, trace the money, confront Tyler, or step back and let your father test their promises himself. Every move risks confirming Diane's accusation that you only care about the inheritance. The house is Frank's to use or sell. Can you expose what is happening without taking his choices away?

Two Left Gloves

You once repaired gloves on a film set. Now two returned left gloves make your old repair record look like fabricated evidence. Rebuilding the set may reveal when the apparent switch happened, but the former assistant and retired director have very different reasons to care about what the archive says next. You can arrange reenactments, move props and propose explanations that can be tested. Try these actions yourself, ask for help, negotiate terms or change the plan. You will meet Rowan Bell, Mae Turner and Jules Hart; each has limits on the help they will offer and may disagree with your decisions. Rowan lays two gloves side by side on the prop bench. Both thumbs point left. On the projection behind them, the actor applauds with both hands. You can ask for clarification or propose your own response to the problem in front of you.

The Promise About Victor

You have been Adrian's best friend since college, and he made you promise never to get involved with his older brother Victor. Now Victor has returned to take over the family hotel, and Adrian asks you to work beside him for one month.

Contract Marriage Rules

You signed a six-month marriage contract with Saltash for a penthouse and a solution to your debts. Now you live between your exacting husband and his brother Montford, who suspects the deal is a cover for something darker. The press arrives in an hour—and there's one more clause to sign.