The Ashton Legacies is a series of standalone stories all following members of the Ashton family, guardians of the gateways. Join them as they guard potals to other worlds, discover new lands, and find adventures across the universe.
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Aderes in Karkhana
A young woman far from home.
An enigmatic new husband.
A strange world full of danger…and some of it might be familiar.
Falling into a different world isn’t one of Aderes’s lifegoals. Marrying a stranger certainly isn’t. But when one misstep sends her crashing into a completely different world, she isn’t given much of a choice. The people of Karkhana don’t accept visitors. As if being forbidden from returning home isn’t enough, Aderes finds herself forced into marriage to a guard of the local lord. Her new husband swears to protect her, to teach her how to live in his world…but he won’t let her return to her family.
Gaiseric wasn’t looking for a wife. He is woefully unprepared for Aderes, particularly when she proves to be nothing like he expected. Between grief over the loss of her family and her gentle spirit, Gaiseric worries that his world will crush her completely…especially if his master discovers that Aderes knows more about these strange portals than she’s saying. But which bond is stronger: his oaths to his master, or his marriage vows to Aderes?
Aderes and Gaiseric weren’t prepared for their lives to be thrown together. But even if they can make their marriage work, other dangers threaten to tear them apart. Aderes isn’t the first person to fall into Karkhana with no way home. There are darker powers at play around them, enemies that might recognize Aderes as more than Gaiseric’s foreign wife. And they’re growing impatient.
Aderes has to decide: can she trust Gaiseric with the truth about her family? Can she trust him with her heart?
Viggo in Orlin
A doubting champion.
A woman carrying more secrets than answers.
A coming Solstice that demands blood…but who will still live when the sun sets?
The world of Orlin needs a champion, and Viggo signed up. But he realizes too late that he should’ve read the fine print. These people are demanding more than a warrior: they intend to turn him into something else entirely…something monstrous. And while Viggo has never backed down from a challenge before, the longer he trains the more he wonders if what he’s becoming is any better than the monster he’s sworn to fight.
Isenia has seen far too many champions die to have much hope that this solstice will end differently. Still, as her last chance to regain what she’s lost, she can’t sit back and do nothing. She realizes quickly, though, that Viggo is far different from the champions who came before him. Perhaps he is what they need to break the cycle of death. But the more time she spends with him, the more lost she feels. If Viggo doesn’t fight, they’re all doomed. So why does the thought of him stepping forward on that battlefield fill her with more terror than hope?
Some lines shouldn’t be crossed. With everyone around him pushing Viggo to dig deeper into the bloodlust and violence that they awoke inside him, how is he supposed to hold on to what is right? Some lost things shouldn’t be found. Can Isenia truly prepare Viggo to face the creature that burned her own life to ashes? The solstice is near…and with the sunrise comes a challenge that must be answered. What will be left when the stars return?
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Companion story for Aderes in Karkhana
This story contains spoilers for Aderes in Karkhana
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