Today, I'm sharing a snippet from A Dance of Water and Air, the first Elemental Magicae book. Edmund is demisexual and the heir to the throne of Thalassa, and has to make an alliance marriage with the queen of a neighboring kingdom. Arden is bi and trans and the queen's brother. He and Edmund absolutely should not fall in love, but of course they do. Then Edmund is accused of trying to assassinate the queen, Arden frees him from the dungeon, and they both run. But before any of that happens, this is when Arden first sees Edmund.
The tall doors, polished wood with silver and gold set in a fluid pattern over the entire surface, were pulled open, and Prince Edmund stepped through.
Arden hadn’t expected the punch of instant attraction and didn’t much care for it. He had certainly been attracted to people before and had a couple of discreet liaisons when he’d found a potential lover he could trust, but he’d seldom felt an attraction so sudden and visceral, one that had him wondering what it would be like if he dragged Edmund off to bed.
But this was his sister’s intended—for an alliance marriage that was meant to secure the safety of their kingdom.
Still, Arden understood his own reaction. Edmund was breathtaking.