The Summer Palace (Captive Prince short stories #2) by C. S. Pacat

The Summer Palace is a short story that serves as an epilogue to Kings Rising, with Damen and Laurent meeting at the summer palace for a well-deserved respite from trying to consolidate their positions and secure the future of their people.

The story of their reunion is a triple wonder as it offers glimpses into the aftermath of the final events of Kings Rising while allowing Damen and Laurent to finally enjoy their time together and at the same time process – with each other’s help – some of the hardest parts of their past.

(Except for one; but I think it was the right choice of the author not to cramp everything into such a short story and leave that out, either for some future story or for the readers’ own imagination, not to mention that dealing with everything in the span of one evening would have been too much for the characters, as well.)

As such, The Summer Palace is utterly touching; it made me both laugh and shed a tear. I didn’t think that I could love these two fictional characters more than I already had, but after this story, I do. I so do.

And against such beauty, I cannot possibly hold a few missed typos against the author, so all five stars it is, because all in all, The Summer Palace was brilliant, better than I could have ever imagined.