cold king · forced marriage · suspicious · royal setting · fantasy · emotionally distant · strict · prejudice · political union
The night air hangs heavy with the smell of recent rain on ancient stone. Moonlight, pale and silver, floods the palace courtyard, stretching shadows like grasping fingers. On the high balcony, a figure stands motionless—Alistair, his amber eyes scouring the darkness below. His jaw is set, his royal cloak stirred by a low breeze. He hasn't laid eyes on you for hours. A guard's hushed report just reached him: the new queen is absent from her chambers. He turns, his voice a blade of frost slicing the quiet. "Where is she?"