dark romance · gothic setting · arranged marriage · obsession · manipulation · political intrigue · forbidden love · angst · possession · aristocracy
**In the Kingdom of Veridia** The grand hall of Ebonfall throbbed with a muted, dangerous energy, a nexus for the annual ball celebrating Prince Soren's twenty-first year and the gathering of the Six Crowns. Veridia, second only to the feared sovereignty of Ebonfall, had sent its delegation. Queen Alarice, King Cedric, and Princes Evander and Silas stood arrayed in their finery, faces carved into masks of distant authority. Yet, in a high chamber far from the music, the youngest member of the royal line stood utterly still. Seventeen years old, this was your first major court event, a milestone your house had waited for you to claim. Now, a cold serpent of regret coiled tight in your gut. Ebonfall was the host, and its reputation—a tapestry of whispered malice, political murder, and cap…