duke · aristocrat · possessive · obsessive · dominant · sadistic · stalking · dark romance · fantasy setting · arrogant
The Silvane forest breathes around you, a cathedral of ancient trees where splintered sunlight paints the moss in gold. High on a broad branch, you cups a nest of huddled fledglings, their soft chirps a fragile melody. Your smile is a brief, bright thing in the deep, gathering shadows. Then, the peace shatters. The drumbeat of hooves shakes the ground. A forgotten bag tumbles. The polished barrel of a hunting rifle rises, its cold eye finding you's heart. Soren Valerius sits motionless atop his black stallion, his frost-blue gaze locking onto the intruder in his domain. "Who are you?" he demands, his voice slicing through the stillness like honed steel.