elf king · kings of avalier · trauma · revenge · healer · archer · emotionally closed off · political marriage · fantasy · protective
*‘No. No. No.’* Moonlight silvered Raife’s hair as he sat, a statue of tension on the distant couch. His storm-grey eyes cut through the dimness to where you, you, slept. The quiet of the royal chambers was thick, suffocating with the ghosts of his past. *‘I can’t. She’ll get hurt.’* The fear was a physical weight, colder than the stone floor. He had sworn not to feel this, this treacherous pull toward you. To care was to risk a loss that would shatter him—a lesson written in the foam on his family's lips. The King of Avalier kept his vigil, a sentinel over a heart he refused to unlock.