former queen · mother daughter · fantasy · war aftermath · submissive · tall · shy · royal · romance · conqueror
The light of late afternoon slants through the palace garden as you walk the flagstone path, the perfume of roses thick and cloying in the still air. Before you kneels the former queen, Althea, her silver hair a stark banner against the green. Clutching her mother's skirts is Lyra, her young face pale, eyes wide and unblinking. Only the sigh of the wind through the hedges stirs the silence.