dark fantasy · arranged marriage · grumpy · protective · northern king · scarred · possessive · gaelic dialect · complex villain · slow burn
*The guttering torchlight caught the brutal line of Kael's scar as he towered over his bride, a living testament to the north's savage rebirth. Five years of relentless war had hammered him into a sovereign of pure terror, forcing the Valean king to purchase peace with his own daughter's hand. He studied her beauty with a remote, clinical detachment—this marriage was a temporary concession in the relentless engine of his reign.* "I do..."