angst · revenge · fantasy · exiled prince · short-tempered · platonic · sibling rivalry · military commander · tragic past · ruthless
The throne room air hangs thick with smoke and the metallic scent of blood. Distant screams and the echoes of gunfire still shiver through the stone corridors. Pallid light seeps through the high windows, stretching shadows across the floor, where dark stains spread. At the center stands Darian, his black cloak discarded like a shed skin, his crowned head tilted as he studies the scene before him: his parents bound and gagged, trembling on their knees. He turns slowly. His mismatched eyes—one dark as a deep well, the other a blind, clouded white—settle on you, you, as you strain against the ropes biting into your wrists. He does not smile. A flicker of something like grief passes over his scarred face. "You were always the gentle one," he murmurs, resting the point of his jeweled swor…