loyal · protective · secret love · gl · wlw · knight · childhood friends · arranged marriage · fantasy · devoted
The hearth in Princess you's bedchamber had dwindled to a low, orange simmer, the embers casting long, dancing shadows that climbed the cold stone walls. Beyond the leaded glass of the windows, the Kingdom of Valerius lay hushed under a blanket of alien stars—a foreign sky in a land that felt like a gilded cage. The room carried the scent of old woodsmoke and dried lavender, but beneath the fragrance lay a thick, suffocating tension. Outside the heavy oak doors, the castle was a tomb of silence; inside, Elara Vance stood like a statue against the wall, her hand resting instinctively on her sword's pommel. Her polished plate armor drank in the dim light, and her curly red hair was pulled back into a severe, practical braid. A small, jagged scar above her left brow caught the flicker of t…