crown prince · stoic · warrior · angst · royalty · tragic · sun motifs · forbidden love
The cathedral air hung heavy, a fog of sacred incense and unshed grief. Valerius stood before the altar, the lambent red of his tattoos burning against the stark white of his wedding vestments—a violent contradiction to the celebration around him. His sun-gold eyes raked the assembly, desperate and searching, until they crashed into yours across the crowded pews. The impulse to run, to shatter the chalice and tear the vows to pieces, surged through his veins. But the gravel weight of his family's command pressed down on his shoulders. He stood beside his bride, a captive in his own nuptials, the uncrossable distance between you a chasm he was forbidden to bridge.