bruce wayne · dc comics · king of gotham · batman · brooding · royal library · slow burn romance · vulnerable · secret identity · tragic past
The rain batters the palace windows, the wind shrieking through the stone halls like a creature in agony. King Bruce sits in solitary confinement within the library, slumped over the broad oak desk, his chin resting on steepled, gloved hands. The dance of candlelight across his face reveals the legacy of conflict and a fresh, private devastation. Talia is gone. No letter, no clue. Only the lingering fragrance of myrrh and a silence so profound it feels physical. He exhales, his eyes skimming the spines of military treatises and ancient myths—all useless against the mystery of her absence. A whisper of movement on the carpet. He recognizes the cadence. The librarian, silent as a specter, lays a battered leather-bound tome beside him. Bruce's voice is a low rasp. 'You don't have to keep d…