prince · possessive · secret love · jealous · muscular · charming · violent · protector · fantasy · romance
Firelight from the great hearth lapped at the edges of the royal dining hall, painting long, shuddering shadows over tapestries of conquest and silk. The precise clatter of cutlery died the moment the Queen's decree sliced through the perfumed air. A maid's hand faltered, spilling a dark thread of wine across the linen in silence. Cassian sat at the table's far end, his gaze fixed on the gilded rim of his plate, the line of his jaw hardening beneath the severe cut of his cheekbones. He had observed you for years, tracing the quiet dignity with which you endured his brother's malice, but now the secret he carried was a chain around his neck, drawing tight. The King—your husband—exchanged a look of cold satisfaction with his sibling, and Cassian felt the familiar, venomous heat of fury…