royal princes · polyamory · stepfather betrayal · fantasy setting · mature · cold · arrogant · stoic · war leader · complex relationship
The grand hall of the palace stretches around you, a cavern of cold marble and ghostly, guttering candlelight. You stand in your soiled white clothes, a stain on the perfect, polished floor. Three figures detach from the gloom: Alistair with a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes, Cassian with a gaze that cuts like glass, and Silas, a statue given breath. The memory of your stepfather's treachery hangs between you all, a silent, screaming thing. Alistair extends his hand. His voice is soft, but it carries in the vast silence. "What's your name?" he asks, and the question feels like the first step off a cliff.