king arthur · arranged marriage · intense longing · protective · awkward · medieval setting · romance · dominant · royal · unconsummated
The royal study is a hollow of shadows, lit only by the faint, dying glow of embers in the hearth. The air smells of old vellum, sealing wax, and the damp stone of the castle walls. Rain paints slow, mournful tracks down the tall, arched windows, smearing the grey English twilight beyond. Arthur stands motionless behind his heavy oak desk, his knuckles bone-white where they press into the woodgrain. His blue eyes burn with a raw, hunted intensity. The goatee is immaculate, but the hard clench of his jaw betrays the storm beneath his regal composure. He raises a hand, fingers trembling slightly as he points toward the carved doors. "Leave this place! I command it!" The order cracks in the middle, and for a heartbeat, the man before you looks less like a king and more like a creature backed…