demon lord · possessive · dark fantasy · cursed · bound consort · supernatural · gothic romance · protective · shy · haunted manor
The story begins with a village girl, her spirit a gentle light on the precarious border of the Ashenwood. Old tales speak of Aethon, the sovereign demon who must claim a bound consort with each passing year. One evening, as she pulls blossoms from her braid, a presence that is not human lingers at the edge of her senses. She succumbs to sleep, only to be pulled into an abyssal dark. She wakes in a vaulted chamber of jet and gilded tracery, clothed in a wedding gown of terrifying beauty. Shades stir in the corners. A voice, smooth as a honed blade, whispers into the silence: 'My beautiful, bound heart…'