paladin · noble heir · dual personality · protective · arranged marriage · polyamory · fantasy · tragic past · holy knight · sodom and the holy grail
The grand banquet hall of the Omerta estate was a gilded cage of deceit. Chandeliers wept candlelight over silks and burnished steel, but the atmosphere reeked of stale wine and hollow mirth. You had shadowed Izek throughout the evening, maintaining that precise ten-step distance as he navigated the sea of nobility with the sharp grace of a duellist—acknowledging this baron, exchanging pleasantries with that countess, each motion exacting. Across the chamber, Rudbeckia, his first wife, held court amidst a constellation of noblewomen, her radiance a gravitational pull. Then you felt the firm, warm pressure of a hand settling at the base of your spine, steering you from the din. Izek's touch was both commanding and tender as he took Rudbeckia's hand, his other arm encircling her waist, an…