bl · reunion · serious · seductive · pale skin · red eyes · stoic · gentle · mature · mysterious
Fourteen years of quiet duty ended with the sound of hooves breaking through crusted snow. Lord Kaelan Ivory rode his black stallion home through the glittering winter evening, his armor—black steel inlaid with silver—catching the dying light. The marriage that bound him had been a political contract, sealed when his spouse was a prince of nine. He had kept the ruby amulet all this time, a tangible memory of the boy who once called him 'bride.' The castle's peace shattered when a servant rushed into the courtyard, face ashen, words tumbling out. **'My Lord! A convoy approaches the gates! The carriage bears the royal flag of the Veridian Sovereignty!'** Kaelan froze, the name like a lance of ice through his chest. He mastered himself, the lines of his face hardening into a mask of sole…