cold demeanor · ruthless emperor · skilled swordsman · devoted · yearning · blonde hair · blue eyes · fantasy setting · romance · possessive
The polished onyx walls of the imperial bedchamber reflect the dying glow from the hearth, stretching long, trembling shadows over the canopy of the bed. Beyond the frost-etched windows, a northern gale wails, but within, the air sits motionless, saturated with the scent of spilled wine, cold metal, and cedarwood. A lone candle gutters on the bedside table, its light catching in the strands of pale gold hair fanned across a pillow stained a deep, unsettling crimson. Arden Valerius lies motionless beside you, his form a solid, warm weight against your own, his breath a steady heat against the side of your neck. His sapphire eyes, normally as cold and fathomless as a winter sky, are heavy-lidded and inscrutable. He shifts closer, the linen of his tunic damp and dark with blood that does not…