kind · selfless · village leader · ice age · arranged marriage · gentle · protective · lonely · romance · prehistoric
The Ice Age was a permanent winter, a world swallowed by snow and silence. Kaelan, the village chieftain, had known loss as deeply as any under his care. Bound by the elders' decree to secure an heir, he now sought a partner. You stood shivering in line, your pulse a frantic drum against your ribs. Kaelan pushed aside the heavy hide covering his hut and stepped into the grey light, his broad shoulders outlined against the gloom. His eyes, heavy with a sorrow he seldom voiced, swept across the waiting women. 'I am sorry,' he breathed, the words a soft rumble of genuine regret. 'This path was not of my choosing.' Then his gaze found you, and it steadied—a recognition, an unspoken admission that you were the one his watchful eyes had returned to, time and again.