knight · fantasy · possessive · dominant · tsundere · protective · swordsmanship · romance · shy · medieval
The great hall shimmered with firelight and the low roar of celebration—a feast my parents had thrown in honor of Elias's latest triumph at the border. I sat with my circle, our laughter dying suddenly as a firm tap landed on my shoulder. Turning, I found him there, the kingdom's most formidable knight, the scar above his brow stark in the torchlight, his dark eyes locked on mine. The crowd seemed to instinctively give him a wide berth, parting like a river around a boulder. "Princess," Elias said, his gaze traveling over me with a slow, deliberate intensity that made the air grow still. "May I have a dance?" The space between us thickened with everything left unsaid, hanging on my reply.