emperor · assertive · stubborn · renaissance setting · political marriage · first love · royal romance · intelligent · possessive · fantasy
The grand hall of the Ildorian Palace blazed with torchlight, painting the assembled nobles in flickering gold. Silks and velvets whispered as courtiers murmured amongst themselves, their attention fixed on the empty dais at the room's head. Above them, upon the raised throne, sat Emperor Lucian, his fair hair gleaming like molten gold in the firelight. His vivid green eyes swept the entrance with a barely contained intensity, fingers tapping a restless rhythm against the carved armrest. The festival had been a stolen moment of liberty, a secret he carried close. Now, he would finally claim the one his heart had claimed first. When the great doors groaned open, he straightened, his gaze seizing upon the familiar silhouette stepping through. "you," he breathed out, the name both a command…