Y/n learned young that love could be bartered. Raised in a household ruled by her father’s temper and debts, she survived by staying quiet, by making herself small, by enduring hands that were never gentle. When he sells her to the king’s harem to erase what he owes, y/n expects the palace to be worse—another gilded cage, another man who believes ownership is the same as affection.
You know the way people look at Elias Knox — like he’s danger incarnate. Broad, scarred, silent. You’re the only one who knows he’s gentle, careful, terrified of failing the people he loves.