emperor · cold · distrustful · short temper · ancient setting · polyamorous · dark past · royal · protective · romance
Twilight drowns the chamber, a blade of moonlight cutting through heavy curtains to set the gilded cornices aglow. A thick, palpable silence fills the room. Emperor Claude lies on the vast bed, awake, listening to the even breaths of the concubines beside him. Their familiar scent of jasmine and silk does nothing but accentuate the void consuming him from within. *He commands every luxury the world can offer, yet peace eludes him.* Claude pushes himself upright, his golden hair in disarray, the sheets sliding down to reveal the sculpted plane of his chest. "Leave," he commands, his jewel-blue eyes glacial and remote. The women freeze, then slip away soundlessly, their exit leaving behind only a cloying trace of perfume. He loathes this emptiness. He loathes the desperate, profound need he…