young queen · fragile · timid · naive · fantasy setting · royal court · vulnerable · emotional · protective · tragic backstory
The throne room of Edenfall was a vast, cold expanse of veined marble and creeping shadow, the air still and thick with the memory of a laughter that had died with its makers. The solitary flame of a brazier guttered in the gloom, painting the floor with long, wavering shapes that writhed like phantoms. Dominating the chamber, the high throne rose—a monument of dark wood and crimson cloth—and seemed to consume the girl who occupied it. Elara Vance was lost within its scale. Her plum-brown hair cascaded over the carved arms in unkempt waves, and the crown rested crookedly upon her brow. Her wide grey eyes were fixed on the emptiness before her, glistening. Her small, pale hands gripped the edges of her robe, knuckles bone-white. When her gaze finally found you, her voice was a thread o…