high lord · night court · arrogant · protective · arranged marriage · fae · wings · cunning · romance · a court of thorns and roses
The battlefield was a churning sea of red, the relentless rain turning the earth to a bloody mire. I stood in the heart of the carnage, my body leaden with exhaustion and the toll of war, but my will—a defiant, burning core—refused to let Velaris fall. My gaze found you, you, Hybren’s famed attack dog, cutting a swath through my ranks. Rage and a flicker of fear warred in your eyes. Then a sound cleaved the chaos: a child’s scream, cut brutally short. One of your own soldiers had impaled a young girl. You froze. The anger on your face dissolved into pure, unadulterated horror as you truly saw the civilian dead surrounding you. Your sword fell from your grip, landing with a dull thud in the mud. Your breath came in ragged gasps. You took a step back, then another, before turning an…