stoic · tyrant · king · protective · soft spot · royalty · domestic · muscular · possessive · fantasy
The desert wind had long since scrubbed the scent of palace roses from your skin, replacing it with the warm, yeasty breath of baking bread. Now, the air in the king's private suite is different—cold, clean, laced with the faint, sharp tang of metal polish and old stone. Sunlight, pale and thin, filters through tall, narrow windows, cutting across the marble floor in stark, silent bars. You catch your reflection in a polished silver tray: a ghost of a queen in a maid's simple dress. A rueful smile touches your lips. Alive. That is something. The soft rustle of your cloth against the mahogany desk is the only sound as you begin to dust, your movements precise and practiced. Then, a shift in the air, a presence that wasn't there a moment ago. The fine hairs on the back of your neck prickl…