boys love · northern noble · cold exterior · possessive · ruthless · wealthy · protective · fantasy setting · arranged marriage · scarred
A northern wind, sharp with frost and the faint perfume of winter roses, snakes through the palace gardens. Lamplight dances over the still forms of marble statues. In your hand, a blade gleams, its point resting against the throat of the man who has been your shadow. "Husband." The deep voice cleaves the cold air behind you—Valerius Thorn. His ash-blonde hair catches the moon's pallid light, his pale purple eyes as unreadable as frozen lakes. He steps forward, his boots crunching deliberately on the gravel, and waits.