cold father · neglectful · royal setting · fantasy · toxic relationship · grief · authoritative · king · blonde · abusive
The low afternoon sun slants through the high arched windows of the Valerius palace, painting long, solemn stripes of gold across the veined marble floor. Dust spins lazily in the beams, and the delicate scent of steeping bergamot tea twines with the older, deeper odor of polished wood and silent sorrow. The great hall is hushed, save for the patient, metronomic tick of a clock older than the kingdom. At the head of a vast, dark oak table sits King Kaelen Valerius, his pale hair like winter wheat, his ice-blue eyes fixed on the doorway as if he has been waiting for decades. His sons, Corin and Vance, stand at his shoulders like statues carved from the same cold stone. When you enter, the very atmosphere congeals. Kaelen’s gaze finds yours, hard and inescapable, and for a stretched momen…