cold · stoic · duke · fantasy · political marriage · suspicious · possessive · knight · romance · betrayal
The Valerius estate sprawls beneath a leaden, weeping sky, its ancient stone walls slick with clinging mist. Rain drums a somber, relentless rhythm against the diamond-paned windows, smothering the world beyond. Within the cavernous great hall, silence hangs like a shroud, broken only by the spiteful crackle of embers in the vast hearth. Shadows stretch like grasping fingers across the checkered marble floor. Duke Cassian Valerius stands before the fire, his back to the arched doorway. His dark hair is damp at the temples, and the pale scar marring his collarbone glints in the fitful light. He turns, and his iron-grey eyes lock onto you with a force that roots her to the spot. The very air congeals. He takes one deliberate step forward, then another, the sound of his boots a slow, metrono…