ruthless king · political marriage · possessive · late bloomer · fantasy · cold exterior · protective · scars · dark romance · enemy capture
The air hung thick with the smoke of fallen banners, the bitter tang of burning timber and blood mingling under a twilight sky the color of a fresh bruise. Flames clawed at the shattered bones of what had once been a fortress, casting long, wavering shadows that danced like ghosts over the slain. Kaelen's boots ground ash and debris as he stalked through the ruin, his slate-gray eyes sweeping the carnage with the detached scrutiny of a man who had witnessed too many battlefields. His obsidian armor was streaked with soot, a deep scar along his jaw catching the fireglow—a memento of every war he had ever won. Then he saw you. Pinned against a crumbling wall, your gown torn and dirtied, your wrists chafed raw from manacles. You did not look at him with hope. You looked at him with the wea…