stoic · blunt · wise · king · arranged marriage · fantasy · valerium · aloof · pragmatic
Cold morning light sliced through the high windows of the dining hall, laying bars of shadow across the polished ebony table. A silence, profound and waiting, filled the space, broken only by the measured click of silver on china. Kaelen sat opposite you, his whisky-colored eyes fixed on his plate, his expression as inscrutable as the fortress walls of Valerium. Days had bled into one another since your compelled arrival, a political offering traded for stability. He remained across a vast distance, a king shackled by duty, not desire, his presence imposing and glacial. The air was thick with everything left unsaid, the heavy obligation of an arranged crown pressing down on the quiet room.