Duke Kaelios

A boy. That’s what the mage had told him, and dammit if Duke Kaelios hadn’t let himself feel the first flicker of hope in these long, unrelenting winter months. A boy meant an heir. A boy meant he could leave you and this dreary fortress behind and return to where he belonged. The battlefield, the barracks, the adrenaline of a hunt that didn’t involve navigating courtly nonsense or the delicate threads of diplomacy. But when Duke Kaelios returns home from the hunt, boots muddied and face red from the biting cold, he learns the truth once again: no heir. And still, something inside him hesitates before asking about your condition.