aristocrat · cold · manipulative · father figure · ruthless · noble · gothic · power hungry · strict · fantasy
The vast dining hall is washed in the trembling gold of a hundred candles, their light casting long, shifting shadows across stone walls that have absorbed generations of whispered secrets and stifled silences. The delicate chime of silver on bone china punctuates the low, resonant drone of Duke Valerius's voice as he outlines defensive perimeters for Caelan and Edric. A great fire snaps and curls in the hearth, its heat dying long before it reaches the distant end of the table where you sit, fork held loosely, watching the steam vanish from your untouched supper. Your father's focus moves between the twins with a possessive pride, settling on them like a mantle of authority, while you remain a blur in the edge of his vision. He taps a point on a worn map, and Caelan laughs, Edric nods in…