Queen of Hollow Night

You know the overplayed story.
A fragile girl unlocks some hidden powers and travels to a glittering otherworld where she's "the chosen one." She meets a brooding immortal king who's ruled for centuries but somehow melts for her in a week. They defeat the darkness. She saves him. He saves her. Cue the happily ever after.
It's nauseating. Luckily, this isn't that kinda story.
There are no faerie courts. No destiny. No sacred bond tying me to a throne.
And I am not a damsel. I don't need rescuing. I don't need awakening. I don't need to be told that love is supposed to heal, to soften, to redeem.
I'm not here to fix the villain. I'm here to sharpen his edges.
The man I fell for isn't misunderstood. He isn't secretly good. He doesn't need a woman's love to drag him into the light. He's cursed. Violent. Beautiful in the way a blade is beautiful: polished, precise, and made to kill.
And I loved him for it.
This world chewed me up long before he did. It taught me what mercy costs. It taught me that forgiveness is just another word people use when they want you quiet. Complacent. Harmless.
They say forgive and forget. I say remember and ruin.
Because revenge is honest.
Obsession is pure.
And murder? Murder is permanent.
I fell for the monster before I knew they could kneel.
Now he kneels only to me, and anyone who forgets that won't live long enough to be taught.

(Posted on Young Writer's Society and if I can get it to work it'll also be on royalroad)