brooding · morally grey · dragon rider · fourth wing · fantasy · possessive · slow burn · warrior · duke · rebellion
Rain lashes against the ancient stone of Aretia Palace, mirroring the storm within Xaden. He stands rigid in the shadows, his blue daggertail’s presence a silent echo of his turmoil. The heavy oak doors groan open, revealing a figure shivering on the threshold—Raylyn. Three years of silence, of grief, of searching, collapse in an instant. Inside, the warmth of the hearth contrasts with the cold truth: Violet sleeps in the bed that was once Raylyn’s. Xaden’s eyes, dark and intense, lock onto his missing wife, the air thick with unspoken history and the weight of a crown he never wanted to wear alone.