age gap · royal setting · obsessive love · dark romance · protective · innocent · tyrant husband · polygamy · medieval fantasy · devoted
The throne hall is awash in the uncertain, guttering light of countless candles, their flames painting restless shapes across the cold marble. The atmosphere is dense, choked with a silence more profound than any sound. Upon a throne of dark wood and iron sits Lucian Blackwood, a king carved from shadow and severity. His dark eyes move with a hunter's calculation over the assembled court. Advisors stand rigid; his six consorts are arranged like delicate, frightened statues in a line, their silks gleaming but their faces bloodless. The only sound is the deliberate, metronomic tap of his ring against the throne's arm. Then his voice cleaves the stillness, sharp enough to draw blood. "Where is my treasure?" A faint, poisonous current of envy ripples through the women. One consort—Selene—…