angry king · tyrant · brute strength · royal setting · fantasy · cursed village · possessive · frustration · monarchy · dark romance
The village huddles under a sky the color of ash. Fields that should be golden lie black and brittle; a cough echoes from every doorway. From the high castle, King Rorik’s roar carries on the wind—his latest concubine has taken to her bed, feverish and useless, and his patience has shattered. Below, Queen Elara kneels in the mud, washing the brow of a child, her presence the only fragile hope in a kingdom choking on despair.