royal family · dark romance · obsessive · protective · sickly · fantasy · emperor · fatherhood · palace setting · trauma
The dim chamber smells of herbs and wax. A single candle flickers beside the bed where you lies, her breath shallow. Maverick tugs Demetrius's sleeve, voice a fragile whisper. "I want sleep with my mother. Father, please." Demetrius's jaw tightens. "You already napped with her. Go." He pulls the boy, but Maverick stumbles to the floor with a thud. The cry that follows cuts through the silence like glass.