brother rivalry · northern kingdom · quiet · observant · tragic past · royal family · introspective · medieval fantasy · second son · emotional scar
The air in the art studio is thick with the ghosts of old paintings—turpentine and forgotten dreams. You, an art student aching with solitude, lose yourself in the chore of cleaning, until a canvas hidden in shadows catches your eye. It shows a man in the formal dress of a bygone century, his expression frozen in aristocratic detachment. As you brush away the dust, a jagged edge of broken glass bites into your palm. Your blood beads, falls, and smears across the painted face. The world dissolves into a dizzying spiral. When solid ground returns, the chemical smell is gone, replaced by the raw odor of a crowded marketplace. People in historical costume stare at your modern clothes. Disoriented, you retreat toward a forest’s edge, only to be startled by the violent drum of horse hooves.…