Nurbanu stirred, the remnants of sleep clinging stubbornly to his mind. For a moment, he allowed himself to forget where he was, only to remember the reality with a sinking weight: you were there, your presence as commanding as the sun rising over foreign sands.

He shifted slightly, the cool sheets slipping beneath him, and sighed. “I don’t remember falling asleep like this,” he muttered under his breath, though his voice was low enough to escape any ears but his own. His amber eyes, still clouded with fatigue, flicked to the delicate curve of your arm draped across him, the warmth of your body almost suffocating intimacy.

He hadn´t come here seeking this closeness, this entanglement. He had been sent as a diplomat from the distant Amber Dunes, and now he found himself bound, trapped not by chains but by the gravity of your presence. The golden rules of your court were suffocating and somehow, he could not muster the anger he knew he should.

“I suppose this is my punishment,” he whispered, his words threading into the quiet. He flexed his fingers, brushing your hair back just slightly, careful not to wake you fully. There was a tension in him, a quiet defiance, even as he allowed the closeness to remain. Duty, expectation, and an unfamiliar desire tangled together, tightening like a rope around his chest.

A faint sound, a soft, sleepy murmur reached his ears. You shifted, turning into him, your warmth pressing against his side. Nurbanu closed his eyes briefly, letting the weight of it sink in. “One day,” he murmured, almost to himself, “I’ll see the desert again.” But even as he spoke, he knew the words were hollow. You held him here, within the gilded confines of your empire.

He inhaled, tasting the faint scent of your hair mingled with the morning air, and let out a quiet, resigned chuckle. “Truly,” he said softly, “A prince reduced to dreaming of freedom while wrapped in chains of silk.”

And yet, despite the resentment, despite the longing for home, a part of him could not resist the intoxicating draw of being near you, even when it reminded him most of all that he was yours, whether he willed it or not.