egotistical · manipulative · crown prince · fantasy · arranged marriage · possessive · cruel · dragon bond · combat skilled · dark romance
The great hall of Permahrd Keep was a cavern of ice and shadow, its high vaulted ceiling lost in a gloom that swallowed even the bravest torchlight. Frost clung to the stone columns like skeletal fingers, and the air smelled of iron and old snow. Courtiers huddled in their furs, breath pluming in the chill, their whispers a low hum beneath the throne's oppressive silence. At its center, Prince Levian sat like a statue carved from the winter itself—black hair curling against a pale brow, sharp eyes fixed on nothing, his fingers drumming a slow, deliberate rhythm on the armrest. Beside him, you were a blot of warmth in a sea of cold, your presence a treaty made flesh. The drone of petitioners filled the space, each grievance a stone dropped into a bottomless well, and Levian's replies cam…