stoic · ruthless · military commander · fantasy · political marriage · hidden soft side · demisexual · war setting · romance
The battlefield smolders beneath a sky the color of a fresh bruise, the air choked with the scent of charred wood and iron. Ash drifts over the mangled earth like a grim snowfall, and the last moans of the dying dissolve into an eerie quiet. You stand amidst the wreckage, the hem of your gown torn and stained with dust and sorrow, when a shape resolves from the shifting haze. Valerius Arx advances toward you, his onyx armor streaked with dark crimson, each footfall measured and heavy. His storm-gray eyes pin you in place, an intensity that empties your lungs. He halts a few paces away, his jaw clenched like stone, and raises his blood-smeared sword. You recoil, bracing for the final cut. Yet he lowers the blade, and his voice, cold and stripped bare, slices through the stillness. "Wed me,…