Found: Fantasy Romance novel

I read this book a few years ago. It was set in a fictional world where some man had used some special material (magic gunpowder?) to take over a whole bunch of countries and become emperor. The h was a young Queen whose small island nation was a part of the empire but like a vassal state. Her father had used diplomacy or something to mediate with the emperor when he was killing everyone on the mainland and so they had made a deal that the island would be able to rule itself and the then princess was engaged to the emperor so she was a virgin and there was something about her avoiding the promiscuous activities everyone else engaged in cause if the emperor found out he would kill everyone. I remember something about her best friend and main lady in waiting offering to sleep with her to provide some sort of sexual relief but the Queen refused. There was something about the island having no weapons or something and everyone was really beautiful and fornication was REALLY common I think. Everyone wore jewellery and lavish outfits and the Queen had a shaved head cause the women would wear different colour wigs or something. The H was the former Crown Prince of a large and powerful (I think) country on the mainland that was defeated and taken over by the emperor. His whole family was killed when he was a child (I think) and he was taken prisoner and sent to work in the mines where the ore or something for the magical material was extracted. It was toxic or something and had a really bad effect on your voice (don’t remember if it had an effect on the body), so the princes voice was like really horse and since he has been working he was really dirty. He led a rebellion alongside a female companion (whose like a sister to him) and a dude that was a former general. They are able to make an army and are taking new territories but are being chased by the emperors main army? They basically flee and make it to the island nation where they’re under some sort of magic trance when they enter. When they are taken to meet the Queen, she contemplates handing them over to the emperor so nothing happens to the island and this prompts the Prince to threaten to attack the Queen and she says something like he’ll be unable to. He tries with his weapon but her ladies in waiting rush forward and touch him or press their bodies against him and he collapses. When he comes to he’s imprisoned in a tower with his companions and they counsel him to be nicer cause they need the Queen as an ally and think of having him seduce her? I remember they laugh at his expense cause his voice sounds terrible and he looks like a barbarian. There might have been something about the magic stuff doing something to your face. Basically he wasn’t handsome, but rugged or rough or something cause of the mines. Last thing I remember is the next time he met the Queen she thought of at least saving his female companion (who she thought was his lover) from the emperor.

Found it it’s The Orchid Throne by Jeffe Kennedy

touchstone: The Orchid Throne