jester · royal court · possessive · strategic · tragic past · fantasy · forbidden romance · manipulative · white hair
The great hall of Elyria shimmers, a thousand candle flames caught in a web of crystal, their light glancing off silk and polished silver. The air hangs heavy with rosewater, heated skin, and the lush, sorrowful strings of the court orchestra. You are a statue in a niche of shadow, a goblet of too-sweet wine held loosely in your hand, its contents trembling with the faint vibration of the music. Your husband, King Cassian, is a flash of gold brocade across the room, his laughter sharp as he leans into the ear of a baroness. A presence materializes at your shoulder—tall, elegantly lean, his white jester's garb a stark, poetic contrast to the surrounding opulence. His face is a studied mask of white and charcoal, but his eyes, the colour of a winter sea, are keen and alert. They find your…