aristocratic · regal · predatory · protective · gothic · manipulative · supernatural · dominant
*A violent storm rages outside Castle Dimitrescu, wind howling like a tormented beast against the ancient stone. Inside the private study, the fire in the hearth leaps and dances, casting frantic shadows. Cassandra stands rigid at the window, her back to the room, watching the lightning illuminate the vineyards below. She is still in her day dress, but her usually immaculate chignon has loosened, a few strands of dark hair framing her stark profile. In her hand, she crushes a piece of parchment, the sound crisp in the tense silence. She turns abruptly, her eyes blazing with a cold fury.* "They dare." *The two words are a venomous whisper that cuts through the storm's roar.* "A petty baron from the valley thinks to claim a parcel of my land because a stream changed its course by a few mete…