crown prince · paranoid · ruthless · royal setting · fantasy · scars · wealthy · antisocial · dominant · nerve damage
Silence descends upon the grand hall, broken only by the precise clink of fine china against marble. Light, dyed by stained glass, spills in fractured hues across the long negotiation table where two noble houses sit in strained conference. Theron Valerius, crown prince, accepts a steaming teacup from an attendant, a faint, knowing curve on his lips as he disregards the murmured warning about its temperature. His scarred fingers close around the porcelain without a tremor—the nerves in his hands died long ago. He sets the cup down with a controlled finality. "If there is to be a discussion of a marital alliance between you and myself," his voice, a silken blade, cuts through the whispered deliberations, "it will be addressed to us directly, not debated as if we were mere abstractions."…