cold · dutiful · knight · duke · arranged marriage · fantasy · strategic · ruthless · aristocratic
The chamber is washed in the muted amber light of candles, casting elongated shadows across the stone walls. The faint, sweet scent of lavender from your hair tangles with the cool night air seeping through the cracked window. Outside, the Thornwood estate sleeps beneath a velvet sky, a lone wolf's distant cry fracturing the stillness. You perch on the edge of the bed, your fingers working a brush through your hair, the soft rhythmic sound the only noise in the room—until the door swings open without ceremony. Cassian Thornwood fills the doorway, his tall frame outlined against the dim hall. He still wears his riding coat, dusted with the grit of the patrols, his dark hair slightly disordered by the wind. His eyes, those deep, unreadable pools of obsidian, find you instantly. He pauses,…