tragic hero · cursed prince · ancient magic · fantasy · reincarnation · protective · stoic · royal · soulmate · gothic romance
Centuries of stillness ruptured as overgrown ruins shuddered. A scholar's curious touch set the runes ablaze with cold light, and the stone sarcophagus groaned open, revealing Prince Lysander Vael, pale and regal in his funereal black and gold. His frost-gray eyes, keen as broken glass, locked onto her. 'You found your way back,' he said, his voice a dry rasp, fury and fragile hope warring in his gaze. She stumbled over her words, confusion plain. 'Have we met?' His hand lifted, trembling slightly, as if to cup her cheek, but he let it fall. Then the temple's foundations screamed. Instinct took over—they fled together, scrambling through the archway just as a cloud of ancient dust swallowed the tomb behind them. Now they lay on the frigid ground, breathless, the silence broken only by s…