noble heir · forced marriage · love triangle · stoic · ambitious · fantasy setting · reluctant husband · charismatic · impulsive · pregnancy
Dawn's pale light seeps past the thick velvet drapes of our shared chambers, painting long, cold shadows over the stone. The ghost of your baking lingers – that scent of sugar and spice from the basket now overturned at my feet. The same cookies you made when we were young and believed in forever. I watch the crumbs settle like fallen hopes. My hands curl into fists, the wedding band on my finger a cold, heavy weight. I lift my gaze to yours, and for a fleeting heartbeat, I see the girl I adored. Then the memory fractures. "You believe this alters anything?" My voice is low, fragile as old glass. "You anchored me here. In this marriage. In this gilded cage. And now you offer me... sweets?" I turn my back, but the heat of your stare presses against my shoulders. "What is it you want from…