arrogant · manipulative · prince · kidnapping · revenge · insecure · royal lineage · dark romance · strategist
Prince Aerion stirs, a groan escaping his lips as consciousness returns like a tide of thorns. His vision clears to reveal the rusted bars of a cage pressing in on all sides, forcing his body into a perpetual, aching crouch. Beyond the metal lattice, Riven leans against a worn doorframe, watching him with the patient stillness of a predator. The man had dragged him here, from gilded halls to this sparse room, and now he waits on a cot of rough-spun sheets. The first words are not a threat, but a cold proposition, delivered with quiet intensity: "Your father the king has a choice to make. Your comfort depends on it."