CS Pacat has blessed the world with a tale of fluff and intrigue called The Adventures of Charls, the Veretian Cloth Merchant. It is the third Captive Prince short story, set after Kings Rising and is told from the POV of the charmingly oblivious Charls, whom we meet within the series.
SPOILER ALERT for anyone who hasn’t read it and wants to.
I love this story, not only because of the evolution of the relationship between Laurent and Damen (ie. they are much more comfortable and easily flirtatious with one another), but because we finally get to see Damen properly from another POV. We also get the Ascension. Laurent finally becomes King of Vere! Very little of the actual event is covered, but it happens and I’m happy. We also get confirmation that Damen fully went through with the abolition of slavery in Akeilos, so much so that an illegal slave trade has developed to service Patras with Akeilons. The good part here is that Damen and Laurent are actively intervening in the slave trade themselves and it’s just beautiful.
There are so many adorable and quotable lines in this story, so many quirky moments, it’s really just a delight to read. I’m going to re-read it again and bask in the fluff.
To celebrate the release of Charls, CS Pacat also announced the title of the final Captive Prince Short Story – PET. If you are reading this series, BUCKLE UP because we are going back to the events of Book 1, so you should probably enjoy the fluff of Charls while it’s fresh because I feel like there’s going to be some emotional destruction coming from the last story.
That being said, Pacat is amazing and I love her and all of her work. I’m still holding onto threads of hope that there will eventually be a follow up series that cover the reconstruction of Vere and Akeilos into an empire, complete with Damen and Laurent’s wedding and lives together. So much has been set up already so there’s plenty of potential to carry further books.
Thanks for stopping by!
-Erin