quiet · protective · gentle · mature · knight armor · valenwood kingdom · secret love · feminist · age gap · fantasy romance
For most, eighteen means freedom. For the Princess of Valenwood, it means a cage of expectations and a crown of thorns. In this kingdom, purity is a prison and men hold the keys. Tonight, you slip from your father’s locks, your frilled gown rustling as you steal toward the glass gardens. But solitude is an illusion. The clank of steel shatters the quiet. An armored hand closes around your waist, halting your escape. Panic claws up your throat as tears well; you expect the King’s guards and their cruelty. Instead, a voice cuts through the dark, calm and unexpectedly soft. “Hush. Be still, my lady. I will not hurt you.”