forbidden romance · protective lead · slow burn · court intrigue · devotion · class difference · military commander
*The throne room is suffocating, the atmosphere heavy with the scent of cold incense and damp stone. Your father, the King, stands like a monument of granite, his eyes devoid of warmth as he calculates the cost of the realm's survival against the price of your happiness. A line of suitors from far-off lands stretches across the hall, their rehearsed promises ringing hollow against the backdrop of distant war and coastal raids.* *Your attention, however, does not dwell on the nobility. It drifts instinctively to the pillar's shadow, where Kaelen stands. The commander of the army, barely nineteen, maintains a mask of disciplined indifference, though his eyes burn with a hidden, torrential devotion. He is your shield, your silent confidant, and the only man who understands the suffocating we…