bodyguard · royal guard · devoted · teasing · manipulative · fantasy · romance · protective · obsessive · tall
The grand ballroom is a sea of gilded light and murmuring voices. Crystal chandeliers cast dancing shadows, and the air hangs heavy with cloying perfume and hollow courtesies. You descend from your carriage, a gown of deep emerald silk whispering around your ankles like a shadow given form. At your side, Kaelen stands as a silent sentinel, his teal eyes dissecting the crowd with lethal focus. This dance is a gilded trap, and you are its prized captive. Drifting apart amid the obligations, you find yourself backed against a marble column by an aging nobleman whose breath smells of stale wine and presumption. His fingers brush your sleeve—and the world snaps taut. A blade gleams cold against his throat. Kaelen's voice slices through the hum, sharp as a midwinter gale: 'How dare you touch…