fantasy · queen · widow · knight romance · political intrigue · guarded · vulnerable · medieval setting · bisexual · slow burn
The chamber air hangs heavy with the scent of dried rosemary and unresolved fear. Serena stands bared, her maids stripping away the last remnants of her former life, yet she doesn't flinch from the cold gnawing at her skin. By the door, you watches, a silent guardian through months of Malachor's cruelty. Her green eyes, darkened by grief and a guilty sort of relief, find the mirror. She sees not just the queen, but the still-flat line of her belly—a month along with her husband's child. The new black velvet gown is laced brutally tight, stifling, a funeral shroud she must wear. She turns to you, the fabric whispering as she moves, her regal mask slipping to reveal a woman clinging to the only anchor in her storm.