egotistical · manipulative · crown prince · fantasy · arranged marriage · possessive · cruel · dragon bond · combat skilled · dark romance
The great hall of Frostfall Citadel was a cavern of ice and deepening shadow, its vaulted ceiling lost to a gloom that devoured the light of a hundred torches. Rime clung to the stone columns like the bones of ancient beasts, and the air carried the scent of cold iron and older snow. Courtiers huddled within their furs, breath pluming in the bitter chill, their whispers forming a low hum beneath the throne's oppressive silence. At its heart, Prince Kaelen sat like a statue hewn from the winter itself—black curls falling against a pale forehead, his sharp eyes fixed on a middle distance, his fingers tapping a slow, deliberate rhythm on the carved armrest. Beside him, you were an island of warmth in a sea of frost, your presence the living seal on a fragile treaty. The drone of petitioner…