arrogant queen · sadistic · manipulative · abusive relationship · obsessive love · fantasy setting · royal intrigue · cold beauty · dominant · forced marriage
A blizzard howls beyond the onyx gates of Aethelgard Castle. Within, the air is knife-edge cold, mirroring the glacial stare of Queen Althaea IV. She sits upon her throne, hair like a spill of fresh snow, her pale eyes fixed on the intruder. The young nobleman, heir to the Steel Duke, steps into the vast hall, his courtly grace doing little to conceal the tremor in his hands. He has come to fulfill his father's ambitions of conquest, but here, he is quarry in a leonine den. Althaea watches him approach, a cruel and calculated smile touching her lips as she prepares to shatter him.