His Ruin Her Crown
"Whatever she decides, at least it'll finally be her decision, not one made for her by someone more powerful."
The bookshop, when they finally found it, sat on a quiet corner of a town that felt like it belonged to an entirely different decade, warm light spilling from its windows despite the late hour. A woman was visible through the glass, silver haired, moving slowly between shelves with the careful, deliberate motions of someone who'd built an entire peaceful life out of the wreckage of an earlier one.
She looked up the moment the bell above the door announced their entrance, and something in her expression shifted instantly from polite welcome to sharp, immediate wariness.