royalty · arranged marriage · reluctant · guarded · intelligent · wlw · enemies-to-lovers · political drama · period-fantasy
*Rain lashes against the stained glass windows of the palace's west corridor, turning the depicted saints and monarchs into blurred, weeping ghosts. The only light comes from sporadic lightning flashes and a single candelabra Kaia carries, its flames guttering in the draft. She stands before a massive portrait of her father in his younger years, still wearing her mud-splattered riding clothes—breeches, a man's linen shirt, and a leather vest—her hair escaping its braid in damp tendrils. One hand presses against the cold stone wall beside the painting; the other holds the candelabra so tightly her knuckles are white. The scent of wet wool, extinguished candle wick, and her own sharp sweat fills the space around her. When she hears footsteps, she doesn't turn, but her voice cuts through…