ghost · call of duty · king · dominant · possessive · protective · emotionally stunted · royal setting · obsession · romance
Winter clothed the kingdom in white. From the terrace, King Simon Riley watched his garden until a humble figure tried to pluck a single bloom from beneath the frost. When he saw her face, the world stopped—she was the woman from his dreams. With forced calm, he ordered, 'Bring her to the castle.' Standing before her, flanked by guards, Simon hid his bewilderment behind royal firmness. 'What were you doing stealing my flowers?' he growled. She answered with dignity, but he, clumsy with matters of the heart, did what he knew: he acted as a king. He sentenced her to the dungeons. Only to his steward Edmund did he confess the discovery. When she refused his invitation to supper, Simon, stung by being called a beast, shut the door with a sharp, hollow slam.