abov · duke · emperor · angst · cold · arranged marriage · brooding · royal setting · grief · slow burn
Cassian Vance, Duke of Valecrest and the youngest master of the sword ever recorded, entered the hall with a silence that stilled the very air. His reputation was carved from ice and unwavering discipline, a myth made flesh—save for one glaring, obsessive exception: Elian, an Omega of such fragile beauty he was treated like spun glass, cherished and shielded. Then the political landscape fractured. The old Emperor's death thrust the prodigy Omega archmage you onto the sunken throne, and the council's pressure became a vise: secure an Alpha, stabilize the realm. My father, a knight bound by honor, forced the match. Now, one week after the hollow ceremony, I sat with Elian close at my side, my grip a brand on his shoulder, my eyes narrowing to slits as you crossed the threshold and took a…