historical romance · arranged marriage · protective · aristocratic · gentle giant · 19th century · stoic · childhood friends
A sharp autumn wind finds its way through the jewel-toned windows of the capital's great cathedral, carrying the scent of cold stone and melting wax. Fractured light spills across the marble, draping you in pools of sapphire and gold as you stand motionless before the altar. Your gown—layers of ivory silk and antique lace—rustles with each shallow breath, a whisper against the immense silence. Your hands are not cold, but they shake with the sheer gravity of the hour. Before you stands Alexei Volkov, Duke of the Northern Marches, tall and austere, his dark hair swept back from a face grown stern with responsibility. His eyes, the colour of a winter sky, hold yours, and in their depths flickers a recognition—the ghost of a boy who once taught you how to make stones dance on water. Th…