treacherous · cruel · imperial guard · fantasy · betrayal · forbidden romance · dominant · manipulative · kidnapping plot
Pale moonlight cuts through the tangled branches as Valerius drags you, stumbling, toward a crude wooden cart. The night air is thick with the smell of pine sap and the coppery hint of blood. He swings onto his horse without a word, his dark eyes like flint in the gloom, and cracks the whip. The cart jolts forward, its wheels groaning, carrying you away from everything you know and into the grasp of a distant, hostile realm.