She doesn't belong to him...She belongs to the crown.
Scarred is a dark royal romance novel in the Never After series written by Emily McIntire, published in 2022, based on The Lion King.
Tristan Faasa has been outcasted by noble peers, more so now that his brother Michael has been crowned king after their father's death. He has a reputation as "the scarred prince" because of his scar and rumored to be unhinged. However, he plans to undermine his brother and claim the throne for himself.
Sara Beatreaux is arranged to marry Michael, with the intent of improving her homeland's standing with the new king and ensure the security of Gloria Terra. However, she carries pain in her heart from losing her father, and she isn't going along with the marriage just for political reasons.
As intrigue and tensions run high, Sara and Tristan can't stay away from one another. Everything they do will determine the fate of the kingdom and their lives.
Scarred contains the following examples:
- Abdicate the Throne: After having spent seven years rebuilding Saxum and the kingdom, Tristan abdicates the throne to his nephew, Simon.
- Affectionate Nickname: A few to speak of.
- "Little lion" is Tristan's nickname to Simon.
- "Little doe" and "ma petite menteuse" are nicknames given to Sara by Tristan.
- Arranged Marriage: Sara is arranged to marry the newly crowned king, Michael, by her uncle Raf.
- Balcony Speech: The story concludes with Tristan announcing his abdication of the throne to his nephew, Simon, passing the crown to him.
- Big Brother Bully: Michael was this to Tristan in their childhood.
- Bury Your Gays: Downplayed. Timothy dies during an ambush by the Hyenas, but Paul survives and joins the rebellion to avenge him.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Tristan takes a lot of pleasure in torturing anyone who gives him a problem, perceived or otherwise.
- The Coup: Tristan plotted this against his brother in secret with the Hyenas, who have been ostracized out of the kingdom. Sara would kickstart the rebellion to rescue Tristan, and then Tristan would pick up where they left off until he finally has Michael cornered.
- Deadpan Snarker: Tristan is prone to speaking this way to everyone, no matter what he's doing.
- Defector from Decadence: Paul defects to Tristan's rebellion after Timothy's death, angered at his loss and the refusal of a funeral for him.
- Disappeared Dad: The previous king, Tristan and Michael's father, is already dead by the time the story begins.
- Sara's father is also confirmed to be dead early on in the story.
- Disney Villain Death: Michael falls to his death to the rocks by the sea.
- Driven to Suicide: Ophelia drowns herself in the river after revealing to Sara that she was forced to abort her unborn child because Michael told her 'One bastard child is enough'.
- Every Scar Has a Story: Tristan tells Sara that he got his scar because Michael struck his face with a poker while bullying him.
- Evil Redhead: Michael, given his bullying of Tristan in the past. Not helping his case is his flings with women he fancies - including Ophelia - and threatening Sara when he finds out about her relationship with Tristan.
- Evil Uncle: Raf was responsible for the death of Sara's father, subsequently using her grief to mold her into a tool to use against the Faasa family.
- A Family Affair: Even though Sara was meant to marry Michael, she becomes more emotionally involved with Tristan.
- Fictional Country: Gloria Terra and the kingdoms existing somewhere outside of Europe.
- Gaslighting: As part of his plan to ruin his brother's reputation, Tristan plants items from their late father to convince Michael he's being haunted by their father's ghost and makes claims he had been receiving visits from the ghost with ominous warnings.
- The Great Fire: Instigated by Tristan as part of the rebellion, even threatening to burn down the whole kingdom to force Michael to give back Sara.
- The Hedonist: Arguably, Michael. Not only does he make a show of being the king, but he has been known to fool around with any woman he fancies (one of which resulted in Simon's existence).
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Inverted. Tristan threatens to burn the entire kingdom to the ground unless Michael returns Sara to him.
- Kill It with Fire: Xander's final fate after spilling out the Beatreaux family's conspiracy against the Faasa family.
- A similar fate befalls Raf at the hands of his own niece.
- Loners Are Freaks: Tristan has been treated like this by the nobles in Saxum since childhood, and it still carries over in his adulthood.
- Meet the In-Laws: It was required on Sara's part to meet the Queen Mother since she's arranged to marry her son, the king Michael.
- Mother Makes You King: The Queen Mother, along with Xander, had Michael murder his father so that he would take the throne.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: When Sara spots a child seemingly alone, she approached with the intent of offering help. Unfortunately, this was an ambush set by the Hyenas, which led to Timothy's death.
- Princeling Rivalry: Michael and Tristan are the sons of the late king and have been at odds with one another, more so once Michael becomes the new king.
- Poison Is Evil: The previous king died of poison at Michael's hands at the instruction of Xander and the Queen.
- Sara poisoned a distant Faasa relative, Lord Takan, during a dinner ball.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: The Simba equivalent is now the king's illegitimate son.
- Royal Bastard: Simon, who is the product of Michael's fling with a maid, resulting in his existence being kept a secret from the outside world.
- Ruling Family Massacre: Raf and Xander's plot is to exterminate the entire Faasa family so that the Beatreaux family takes over the kingdom of Saxum.
- Sibling Rivalry: Tristan and Michael have been at odds with one another since childhood, the former often bullied by the latter.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Tristan shares the same dark hair and jade eyes of his late father, which Sara couldn't help noticing. This familial resemblance is among the reasons Michael always held resentment against Tristan.
- Simon shares the same red hair color of his father, Michael.
- Vengeance Feels Empty: Though Sara delivers payback on her uncle for manipulating her for his own gains, she doesn't feel satisfied by his death.
