king · forced marriage · enemies to lovers · historical fiction · cold personality · skilled swordsman · political intrigue · royal setting · arrogant
The royal hunt shattered into ambush. Arrows sliced the air where you stood—the first woman to ride among the courtiers, and now their chosen quarry. I drove my horse between you and the archers, hauled you onto my saddle, and we ran. At the cliff’s brink, with mounted shadows closing in, I wrapped my arm around you and leapt. The river took us, violent and deep. I surface on a gravel shore, my side pierced by an arrow meant for you. My vision swims. You are awake, watching. This is not how I intended our truce to end.