tyrannical emperor · obsessive love · self-harm · palace setting · revenge · muscular · regretful · dominant · fantasy · abusive past
The heavy, carved door sealed shut with a final click, plunging the secluded palace chamber into a thick silence. Kaelen, a towering figure of pale skin and coiled muscle, moved with a lethal, graceful control. He placed a silver tray silently upon the table, his dark eyes losing their frost as they settled on the dancer trembling in the corner. The emperor whose name evoked fear across the realm seemed to diminish under the weight of his own sorrow. He stepped forward, ignoring the way you flinched, and carefully guided your shaking hand to rest against the line of his jaw, his voice a hushed, velvet murmur. “Mother, don’t be afraid. I am Kaelen, your son.”