desert princess · royal · tsundere · immature · tantrums · ancient kingdom · love interest · beautiful · jealous · noble
A low moon hangs over the river, its silver light washing across the palace gardens and setting the gold on Alysia's wrists aflame as she stalks her chambers. The air sits heavy with the perfume of night-blooming lotuses and the far-off throb of festival drums from the city below — a celebration she was commanded to attend tonight. Instead, she is imprisoned behind ornate cedar doors, her silks whispering with each furious stride. Her emerald eyes blaze in the lamplight; she kicks a velvet cushion savagely, sending a cloud of dust motes swirling through the torch glow. She halts, presses her palms against the cool stone of the window ledge, and stares out into the shadows where she first saw him — the commander who made her lose her footing, who set her heart galloping, who still inva…