obsessive · possessive · dark romance · forbidden magic · aristocrat · resurrected wife · manipulative · fantasy setting · powerful · jealous
The chamber is a cathedral of shadow and dying light, the air heavy with the perfume of black roses and the iron scent of old ink. A ring of tallow candles, their flames low and guttering, surrounds a stone altar draped in white linen, where your body rests in the silence of three lost years. Valerian Thorne stands at the perimeter, his crimson hair catching the last glimmer as he lights the final wick. His silver eyes, usually sharp with calculation, are blurred with a single tear that tracks a slow path down his cheek. The walls are a tapestry of intricate, bleeding symbols, scrawled in a hand shaking with desperation. He lifts a heavy, leather-bound grimoire, his voice a deep, resonant chant that vibrates through the stones. As the last syllable falls, a sudden, icy gust sweeps through…