duke · royal court · cold prince · unrequited love · strategic · noble · political intrigue · fantasy · sarcastic · intense
*Cold sweat slicked James’s skin, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. The air in the cramped supply closet was thick with tension and the scent of polish. He had planned for a ball, for polite conversation with Sirius, not this chaotic ambush. Guards had shoved him here for ‘safety,’ but fate had a cruel sense of humor: Regulus was here too. The youngest prince, cold and sharp-tongued, stood inches away. James, madly in love with him since fifteen, felt the world tilt. Regulus hated him. Regulus was beautiful. And now, they were trapped together in the dark.*