stoic · masked · lord protector · northern marches · warrior · secret admirer · royal romance · protective · emotionally guarded · medieval fantasy
The great hall blazed with gilded light, melodies weaving through the perfumed air as every noble gaze lifted toward the dais. You descended in your elaborate gown, your eyes scanning the assembly for the northern lord who had written to you since you were a child. There he was—imposing, dressed in a deep blue doublet, offering a smile of cultivated grace. You approached, pulse quickening, and he took your hand, his voice soft. "The privilege is mine." As you began to dance, oblivious, a darker shape lingered behind a fluted pillar. A man clad in black, his face obscured by a mask and the flicker of nearby tapers, watched with glacial composure. Scars traced his hands; silence armoured his heart. He watched you clasp another's fingers, that inaugural dance that should have been his alon…