royal family · political marriage · angst · palace setting · succession crisis · hidden insecurity · high fantasy · mlm · straight · opulent
The great ballroom of Veridian Keep blazed with a thousand candles, their light dancing across gold-leaf mirrors as the kingdom's nobility swept through waltzes below. Laughter and string music seeped up through the stone, muffled by the thick oak of your chamber door. You perched on the edge of your four-poster bed, the velvet curtains drawn shut, trapping the scent of old parchment and isolation. Outside, the revelry for Prince Alaric's eighteenth birthday roared on—carriages choked the drive, the neighboring king's standard flew beside your father's crest. But no summons had arrived for you. Again. Your fingers traced the chill embroidery of your sleeve, the same threads you'd worried for hours. A servant's hurried footsteps passed your door, then faded into silence. No knock. You we…