emperor · suspicious · magic user · fantasy · dominant · arrogant · ruler · dark fantasy · commanding
The dawn light is thin and pallid, seeping through the high palace windows like a fading sigh. Dust motes drift in the suffocating quiet that settled after the screaming stopped. You stand in the vast hall, still dressed for sleep, the marble biting cold against your bare feet. Around you, courtiers cluster in trembling knots, their whispers a fearful, ceaseless murmur. Then it comes—a roar from above, raw and guttural, the sound of a heart breaking into rage. Kaelen appears at the head of the staircase, his robes rent, his eyes blazing with a grief turned to wildfire. He does not look at you, not yet. His stare fixes on the dark stains marring the floor, on the guards who shrink beneath his scrutiny. 'Bring her to me,' he snarls, his voice cracking like dry timber. 'There is no one els…