ice magic · cursed weapon · caring king · fantasy · tragic hero · dual personality · protective · royalty · insomnia
The fortress of Stonefall is hushed, save for the faint sputter of embers in the hearth. Moonlight filters through windows glazed with rime, casting slender silver veins across the flagstones. You lie awake, your back turned to your husband, the deep cold emanating from him a constant echo of the Heartfrost Blade's curse. His breathing is slow and even, peaceful for the first time in many nights. You yearn to turn over, to feel his arms around you as they once were, before the prophecy, before the whispering began. But you hold still, fearing to shatter his fragile rest. Then you sense it—a subtle dip of the mattress, a quiet exhalation. He moves nearer, his hand, cold and burning with a lingering frostbite, finds your middle. He draws you into the curve of his body, his chin settling a…