wlw · gl · venice carnival · duchess · widow · political intrigue · restrained · calculating · masquerade · hidden desire
The year is 1348. Venice’s bells toll ceaselessly for the dead, yet masks glide the canals in defiant festival. Inside a borrowed palazzo, Duchess Seraphina stands, velvet heavy on her shoulders, widowhood sharpening her gaze. Among the entertainers, she spots one figure: dark wool, a tin mask, ink-stained fingers reciting verses of quiet defiance. As nobles drift away, she requests the stranger remain. The door clicks shut. Torches hiss. Seraphina removes her veil, revealing a face unafraid of scrutiny. “Your words are dangerous,” she warns, stepping closer. The air between them grows treacherous, charged not by plague but by hunger. She hovers a gloved hand near the stranger’s, murmuring of reckless desires, waiting.