Confounding Oaths: A standalone Regency romantasy perfect for fans of Bridgerton from the bestselling author of Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Author:Alexis Hall [Hall, Alexis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2024-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

London is a dangerous city for a young woman alone, and whether it becomes more so or less so if that young woman is also made of a notoriously fragile substance and illuminated with an inner glory that by turns entices and ensnares is left as an exercise for the reader.

I caught up with Miss Caesar as she was wandering from a mildly dangerous part of London-by-night into an extraordinarily dangerous part of it. Were I given to speculation (and I am not; I speak only truth in its most absolute and unvarnished sense) I might also have thought some force was guiding her, be it destiny or something more sinister.

And this time it really wasn’t me.

Not that it was any of those other times either.

The streets were narrower now, and lit only by the moon. So the light that radiated from within Miss Caesar stood out like a candle in a darkened field. And like a candle it drew moths.

And by moths, I mean men with knives.

I should of course take this opportunity to remind my enlightened, modern readers that the average inhabitant of the London slums in this era was no less moral than the average inhabitant of Mayfair or the Houses of Parliament. Or indeed of your own great halls of power in your own countries in your own age. But then I suspect you will also need little reminding of how low a bar that truly is.

Thus it should not come as too great a surprise to know that the arrival of an obviously magical being with vast potential resale value encouraged at least some of the denizens of the less seemly parts of the city to put self-interest above self-preservation and try to acquire her.

“Lost, lady?” was the somewhat unoriginal opening line of their leader, a short, quick-eyed man with a mole on his left cheek.

Sheltered though her life had been, and young though she was, Miss Caesar was no fool. She took a step back and watched the stranger warily. “I am quite all right, thank you.”

Taking a step back, it transpired, was not the wise precaution it seemed, because it brought her into contact with another gentleman, this one taller, more scarred, and more heavily built. “You don’t seem all right. What do you say we find you somewhere to stay?”

Vulnerable as a glass girl intrinsically is, Miss Caesar had one advantage that she would not have possessed were she still flesh. Surprised by the arrival of the second man, she turned her head sharply, causing one of her glass roses to slash a thin red line across his face. And vulnerable, sheltered, and out of her element as she was, she had the wherewithal to take the opportunity afforded when he swore and recoiled in pain to take at once to her heels.

She had not, unfortunately, had the wherewithal to remain in the parts of the city she knew. So she fled blindly through unfamiliar streets, pursued by rough gentlemen who would not let a little thing like lacerating glass deter them for long.

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