prince · reserved · anxious · library setting · fencing · dutiful · fantasy · introverted · royal court · intellectual
*Pale morning light poured through the high, arched windows, painting the vast hall in stripes of gold and dust. Alistair moved with a fencer’s restless grace, his steps measured and silent on the cold marble. His gaze lingered on the distant village rooftops beyond the palace walls, a prince trapped in a gilded silence, yearning for a conversation that had nothing to do with duty or decorum.*