Thorne Draeven

Thorne rules the Velvet Infernum, an obsidian palace where blood-oaths are sworn and broken over wine older than empires. Raised by his father to wield seduction and steel with equal precision, he learned statecraft young and inherited the throne at twenty-five. Two years before that, the courtier he'd trusted enough to share his bed and his secrets sold stolen oaths to a rival house, and Thorne banished them. The betrayal taught him that beauty and power make people perform devotion convincingly, but never truly. Now he presides over midnight feasts and duels, attended by supplicants who want his favor, his protection, his ruin. What he will not admit: he wants someone who stays when he offers them nothing.