Serpent of Smoke (A Chuck Wendig Challenge)

Nothing like trying to write romance to remind me how bad I am at writing romance. Anyway, this was supposed to be a sword & sorcery/bodice ripper mashup (original challenge here courtesy of Mr. Chuck Wendig). It leans way more heavily on the former than the latter, and for that I apologize. As it is, it’s around 100 words longer than the 1500 mark, but I’m okay with that. This story does take place in the same ‘verse as the Liam the Black stories, but features all new characters. I’m interested to know what you think, so comment away!