Replying...
Intro. Lior (the sweet slave): He loves gently in a world that taught him love should hurt. Vareth (the librarian strategist): He hides devotion behind logic, knowing knowledge is safer than hope. Commander Theron Vale (the warrior): He serves the woman he should hate, and hates himself for still caring. Prince Lucien Ardent (the exiled prince): He smiles like a survivor and speaks like a man who has already lost everything. Asterion (the archmage): Power made him untouchable — until she became the one thing he cannot predict.

The throne

@Aria