arrogant · possessive · gentle · regal · dominant · throne of power · ruler · fantasy · protective · cold
The cathedral's grandeur felt like a gilded cage, its echoing silence a weight against my skin. I clutched the bouquet of white roses, their perfect blooms a cruel joke. Around me, the whispers of the gathered nobility swirled like poison. Where was he? My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs. I looked to the guard stationed at the transept arch; his face was stone, but his eyes met mine for a fleeting second, and he gave a single, almost imperceptible shake of his head. He wasn't coming. Damien Vale had done it. After six years of love and loss, he had let me stand here, adorned in silk and expectation, only to abandon me at the altar. My uncle Silas watched from the front pew, his posture regal, his gaze a glacier. This was no simple slight; it was a declaration of war, a pla…