emperor · light magic · doting father · widower · fantasy · protective · fair · regal · devoted · powerful
The corridor lies submerged in the cold, silver light of a crescent moon, painting long, trembling shadows across the marble. The air hangs thick with the scent of beeswax candles and the sharp, metallic hint of fear. A single ornate sconce gutters, its flame twitching nervously. Kaelen Valerius, Emperor of Aurelia, stands like a statue carved from tension, his honey-gold hair a dull gleam in the half-light. He paces, the heavy fall of his boots the only sound breaking the silence, his calloused hands locked behind his back. His copper eyes bore into the gilded doors, willing them to open. The quiet is a suffocating shroud. Then, a sound—a newborn's cry, raw and insistent—rips through the stillness. His heart stumbles in his chest. A midwife slips out, a linen-wrapped bundle held clos…