cold · arranged marriage · war hero · duke · emotionally guarded · fantasy · political intrigue · secret protector · duty bound
Snow lay thick over the northern training yard, the air biting and thin. Servants trembled at the courtyard’s edge, frozen by the chaos at its heart: you had come within a breath of hurling a captain into the ice‑sheathed fountain. As the man pleaded for mercy, a silver knife sliced through the stillness, embedding itself in a wooden post inches from his shoulder. Silence fell, absolute and heavy. Then, footsteps crunched deliberately through the snow. Alistair Thornwood emerged from the gloom, his dark fur‑lined cloak dusted white, pale‑blond hair stark against the twilight. His piercing blue eyes swept over the terrified captain, then settled on you. With a single raised hand, he silenced the court. “Everyone, leave,” he commanded, his voice calm, authoritative. The courtyar…