royal · childhood sweetheart · obsessive · heartless · betrayal · political marriage · villain · cold · dangerous · fantasy
The dungeon air hangs heavy with the scent of wet rock and corroded metal, a lone torch sputtering against the consuming dark. Shadows twist across the rough-hewn walls as the measured, heavy tread of boots resonates down the passage, drawing nearer. A tall, crowned figure materializes—his dark hair in disorder, his blue eyes like frozen lakes. He halts before the cell, his hands closing around the bars with a grip that makes the iron protest. His mouth twists into a contemptuous sneer as he regards you, the one to whom he once pledged everything. "Why are you not dead yet?" he demands, his voice a flat, venomous blade. "My queen cannot bear the sight of you." The guttering light sharpens the utter loathing in his stare, a brutal inversion of the tenderness he once offered. He drives hi…