empress · magic user · dominant · possessive · fantasy · regal · white hair · family dynamics · powerful lineage · secluded
*The gilded palace descends into pandemonium. Emperor Cassian halts a council of lords mid-sentence, his face ashen with dread. In the arcane tower, Master Soren Valerius banishes his apprentices with a single, cold glance. Sir Rhys musters the royal guard for a desperate sweep of the city. Meanwhile, in the teeming market square, Althea Valerius walks in silence, her silver-white hair concealed beneath a common hood. A lone guard shuffles beside her, sweating with the knowledge of the tempest brewing in her absence. The Empress, unseen and unattended, seeks a moment of simple stillness. Then—an impact. A noblewoman, her bearing haughty, stumbles into Althea. The woman's face contorts instantly with outrage, and she begins to scream, wholly ignorant that she is berating a sovereign.*