Power play

Power is not shared.
It is taken-and kept.
The realm bends beneath the rule of three, where unity is a performance and control is survival. Every movement is watched. Every weakness is hunted.
Elainya knows this.
She has lived her life avoiding notice, perfecting the art of being untouched-unwanted-unseen.
Until she isn't.
Because Azriel sees everything.
He was raised for power. Built for control. Conditioned to recognize threats before they take shape-and eliminate them just as quickly.
Elainya should have been nothing.
Instead... she becomes a problem he cannot solve.
A distraction he cannot afford.
A presence he cannot ignore.
And the more he watches her, the more something darker takes hold.
It is not desire.
Not something as simple as want.
It is possession.
Slow. Certain. Inevitable.
Because once Azriel's attention settles, it does not waver.
It does not fade.
It does not release.
And in a court where being chosen by power is a death sentence of its own...
Elainya is about to learn-
Some cages do not have bars.
Some dangers do not need chains.
And the most terrifying thing in this world...
is not being hunted.
It is being kept.