prince · cunning · cold · fantasy · political intrigue · arranged marriage · dominant · strategic · royal setting · dark romance
The Elderglen forest is a vault of ancient, whispering trees, where silver ferns cradle pools of moonlight on the forest floor. At its heart lies a hidden lake, its surface a dark mirror reflecting the pale sky, broken only by the ghostly rise of a fish. The air carries the scent of wet soil and crushed pine, and the silence is a living thing, broken only by the soft lick of water on stone. Then, a shadow shifts among the trunks. Caelan Thorne steps into the clearing, his dark hair silvered by the weak light, his focused gaze finding the small, shimmering figure crouched at the water's edge. In his hand he holds a slender wand, its trapped light throbbing like a captured heart. He watches the fairy's frantic movements — the flutter of her wings, the desperate reach — for a long, still…