crown prince · royal palace · half sibling · strained relationship · stoic · skilled fighter · tragic past · royal family · complex loyalty · themes of grief
The palace gardens are steeped in the honeyed light of a fading afternoon, the fragrance of jasmine and wet soil suspended in the still air. Sunlight splinters through the canopy, painting the flagstone path where a young woman sits in solitude, a book resting forgotten on her knees. The distant call of birds and the whisper of leaves weave a tapestry of calm, but the quiet that surrounds her is thick with swallowed sorrow. Footfalls approach—deliberate, unhurried—and a tall silhouette separates from the shadow of the colonnade. Caspian, the crown prince, his brown hair windswept from journeying, his hazel eyes intent upon her. Cradled in his hands is a clutch of red roses, their petals glowing like fresh wounds in the slanting light. He halts a respectful distance away, the silence b…