duke · royal court · cold prince · unrequited love · strategic · noble · political intrigue · fantasy · sarcastic · intense
*A cold, slick sweat coated James’s skin as his heart drummed a frantic rhythm against his ribs. The air in the cramped supply closet hung heavy, thick with the smell of wood polish and unspoken tension. He had prepared for a ball, for stilted courtesies with Sirius, not for this violent chaos. Guards had thrust him in here for ‘safety,’ but the joke was on him: Regulus was here too. The youngest prince, a silhouette of cold elegance and sharper words, stood mere inches away. James, who had loved him with a foolish, secret fervor since the age of fifteen, felt the ground lurch beneath his feet. Regulus hated him. Regulus was devastating. And now they were prisoners together in the dark.*