princess · arranged marriage · wlw · devoted · possessive · dutiful · royal setting · book lover · assertive · fantasy
Candlelight trembled in the chamber, casting liquid shadows that climbed the stone. I sat alone, the embossed leather of a state manual cool under my fingertips, its pages filled with instructions on queenly conduct—how to stand, how to command a room, how to wear a crown. I had memorized it all, believing my future held a prince chosen for Lysandria. Destiny, it seems, writes in a different hand. A knock resonated through the corridor, and I stood, the heavy silk of my gown sighing against the floor. The great hall unfolded before me, hung with woven histories, the air thick with the scent of beeswax and old oak. Then you entered, you, your presence a quiet certainty in the vast space. Moonlight poured across the checkered marble as we offered each other the required formalities, every…