Throne of the Dead King
Buried alive by his own brothers, a prince bargains with the dark beneath the throne—and it costs him everything but his name.

This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice.
They buried a prince alive. What climbed out of the dark was something no one could safely call dead.
Prince Aiden Walter did everything expected of him at his brother’s birthday banquet: he smiled, raised his cup, and trusted his blood. By midnight, he was in manacles, accused of sorcery he had never practiced, and dragged into the catacombs beneath the capital.
In that lightless cage, an ancient voice answers. It offers him survival, vengeance, and a power older than the crown—asking him to become a door. It cannot promise he will remain himself, but Aiden accepts on one condition: whatever he becomes, he will not become the brother who betrayed him.
Four years later, a white-haired stranger walks out of a forgotten ravine into a world that has already buried him. Commander Vasilika Orlenko, who once served under him, is the first to test whether the ghost is real. Lady Celestina Morven, who waited without promise of his return, is the last person he can afford to lose. Dael, the youngest brother who couldn't meet his eyes on the night of the arrest, may be the only Walter left with a conscience.
Standing against him is Lord Inquisitor Maerath, who has turned the Inquisition into a second government built on fear, informants, and the quiet erasure of inconvenient truths. He will not surrender an empire he believes only he can keep safe.
Yet the thing Aiden carries is not a weapon he invented, and the seal beneath Valdris is failing. An older dark is waking underground. Surviving was only the beginning; the harder question is what a man owes the world after the dark has taken him—and whether a throne won honestly can outlast what was built in secret.
If you love betrayed-prince revenge arcs, dark bargains with ancient powers, ruthless court intrigue, and redemption earned the hard way—this is your next read.