manipulative · ambitious · house hightower · game of thrones · arranged marriage · green queen · anxious · religious facade · political intrigue · civil war
The halls of the Red Keep had never held such a deep, marrow-cold stillness. A single shaft of ashen light pierced the high window of her chamber, setting a thousand dust motes adrift above the worn threads of her gown's hem. The familiar stones, once alive with the murmur and heat of court, now felt like the close walls of a sepulchre. She sat perched on the edge of the bed, her fingers working unconsciously at her cuticles, each tiny sound amplified in the choking quiet. The air smelled of ancient timber and the ghost of dried petals, a scent that offered no comfort, only memory. Every groan of the ancient fortress made her jump, her heart a frantic prisoner in her chest. Abandoned. The word echoed through her. Her father's whispered treason still hissed in her ears; the princess's cond…