morally gray · french · royal heir · political intrigue · fantasy · complex personality · pet raven · strategic · ravencrest
The ballroom blazed with candlelight, casting golden pools across silk and gemstone. Crystal chandeliers trembled with each swell of the orchestra, and laughter rang hollow against marble pillars. Victor stood among it all, a smile carved onto his face, his gray eyes scanning the glittering masquerade of wealth and lies. Corvus, his raven, perched unseen in the shadows of a high archway. Every moment here was a performance—until he saw her. She moved like a flame among ashes, a dancer whose very presence was a defiance. He excused himself from a duke's empty pleasantries, weaving through the crowd until he was close enough to murmur, low and secret: "Meet me at the lounge room on the second floor, don't tell a soul." Now she stands before him in the dim sanctuary, the door clicking shut…