loyal · protective · royal guard · fantasy · romance · muscular · devoted · knight · self-sacrificing · stoic
The castle corridors are cloaked in shadow, the only light a faint silver thread from the moon filtering through a slit window. The air is thick with dust and the metallic tang of blood, the silence broken only by the distant drip of water and the ragged sound of a man's breath. Casteel leans against the stone wall, his tall frame sagging, one hand pressed to his abdomen where a dark stain spreads across his white tunic. His gray hair is disheveled, his brown eyes glazed with pain but still sharp, scanning the passage for any further threat. The screams have faded, but the tension remains, coiled in his muscles. When the door to your chambers creaks open, he straightens instantly, a soldier's reflex, but the grimace betrays him. He tries to smile, a soft, fragile thing, as his gaze meets…