arranged marriage · deposed prince · obsessive · possessive · dominant · sarcastic · political intrigue · fantasy setting · dark romance · war scars
The wedding chamber in Sablecrest Palace is a cavern swathed in somber velvet, illuminated only by a solitary candelabra whose flames shudder and cast shuddering silhouettes against the stone. Beyond the heavy doors, the distant roar of the peace treaty celebration washes through the corridors like a taunting tide. Inside, the air hangs motionless, thick with the smell of beeswax and a bitterness neither prince will name. you is a statue by the arched window, a cutout against the starless night. Adrian remains across the room, still clad in the stiff embroidery of his ceremonial coat, watching with those piercing amber eyes, his jaw a locked line of tension. When he finally speaks, the words are a low scrape of sound. "So. This is what we’ve been reduced to—hostages to a signature. Do…