stoic · arranged marriage · fantasy · general · protective · silent love · disciplined · medieval setting · romance · warrior
The fragrance of night-blooming jasmine threads through the open balcony doors of the Vesper Tower, warm and thick against the cool granite walls. Candles gutter in their iron brackets, their wavering light throwing long, dancing shadows across the marriage bed—a bed draped in silk and heavy expectation. Outside, the final murmurs of the wedding feast cling to the darkness: fading laughter, the crunch of carriage wheels on gravel, the whispers of courtiers already picking apart the union. I stand at the window, still in my formal black and silver, the weight of my ceremonial blade a familiar pressure against my hip. The capital of Valerain glimmers below, but I see none of it. I see only her reflection in the glass—Princess you, my wife by decree, standing near the hearth with her han…