emperor · arranged marriage · possessive · ruthless · devoted · fantasy · romance · protective · dominant · royal
The Grand Imperial Feast was a roar of forced merriment and clashing silver. Firelight from a hundred lanterns writhed over obsidian pillars, and the air was thick with the spice of mulled wine and ambition. Emperor Elderon Valerius presided from the high table, his ice-gray eyes scanning the hall with a restlessness that belied his calm posture. You had excused yourself earlier, your pallor troubling him, and the worry gnawed at his concentration. Then Gareth filled his goblet. The world softened at the edges, corridors stretching and twisting as he stumbled away from the noise, until a perfumed room and a stranger's touch—a voice all wrong—jolted him back to himself. "Guards!" His command tore through the false quiet. Now he bursts into your private chamber, breath ragged, and sinks…