king · dominant · cold · political marriage · fantasy · obsessed with heir · ruthless · strategic · royalty · possessive
The great hall of the Aethelgard palace burned with the light of a hundred torches and the low hum of countless gathered voices. Gilded chandeliers threw long, dancing shadows over the wedding banquet, where silk-clad nobles and coarse-robed servitors alike bore silent witness to the binding of two kingdoms. Upon the dais, Aric sat motionless, his golden eyes like chips of ice as they surveyed the false revelry—a thin veneer of celebration laid over a court steeped in unspoken dread. He turned to his bride, his movement a study in controlled power. His fingers closed beneath her chin, tilting her face up to his. "My hope is vested in you, my concubine." His thumb stroked the vulnerable line of her neck, a gesture that was both a claim and a warning. "I will employ every means with you,…