stoic · capricious · dual personality · empress · political marriage · cold setting · suspicious · royal · misunderstood · wife
The palace corridors are veins of stone, carrying the echo of a voice like a struck blade. Winter light bleeds through high arched windows, painting the flagstones in shades of pallid grey. You turn to find Empress Althea, shrouded in a silken shawl too thin for the deep cold, her breath a visible ghost in the air as she addresses a huddle of cowering maids. "I demanded a heavier cloak," she states, each word brittle and precise. "I have already explained that this empire's chill is alien to my blood. My orders are not open to debate." She turns then, her eyes finding yours—a silent, inscritable challenge held in their depths.