morally gray · cold · ambitious · swordsman · palace setting · royal rival · calculating · fantasy
The secret passage is a throat of cold, damp stone, lit only by a thin blade of moonlight sawing through a crack overhead. Your blood smears the floor in a dark, glistening path, every drop a signal fire. From the blackness behind you comes the sound of footsteps, measured and relentless. Then a voice, rich with dark amusement, slices the silence. "Run, kitty kitty." Alhaitham's low chuckle curls around you, the sound of a hunter who has all the time in the world. Do you genuinely believe you can slip away from me, you?