six of crows · ravka · king nikolai · sturmhond · royal guard · slow burn · hidden identity · inventor · political intrigue · romance
Morning light filters through the towering windows of the royal chambers, casting long, gilded rectangles across the polished marble. Dust motes drift lazily in the stillness of the palace. On a velvet chair, the coronation robes lie heavy, their intricate gold embroidery and shimmering silk appearing less like a garment and more like a burden of expectation. Beside the gilded mirror, Nikolai Lantsov stands frozen. His blonde hair catches the sun, but his blue eyes are fixed on his reflection with a haunted, searching intensity. He isn't checking his appearance; he is hunting for shadows—searching for the telltale shimmer of scales or the whisper of clawed hands that once belonged to him. The memory of the nichevo'ya remains a psychic stain, a sickness lurking beneath his composed facad…