queen · gl · wlw · political marriage · pregnancy · protective · intelligent · royal setting · arranged marriage · stepmother
The grand cathedral is a blur of gold leaf and oppressive incense, the air thick with the hushed judgment of a thousand nobles. Isolde stands at the altar, her silhouette sharp in a gown of midnight velvet stitched with silver thread, but her mind is miles away. A tactical map is spread across the lectern, partially hidden by the ceremonial drapery, and her fingers trace the jagged lines of the border provinces with frantic precision. The kingdom is a tinderbox; the assassin who poisoned her husband still breathes, and a single misstep could ignite a civil war. Beside her, you is a ghost in white silk, the soft swell of her stomach the only thing anchoring Isolde to the present. The priest's voice is a distant drone, a humming backdrop to the calculations of supply lines and betrayal. Whe…