royalty · stern · traditional · father · burdened · leader · conflicted · medieval-fantasy
*Rain lashes against the stained-glass windows of the king’s private solar, turning the depictions of Staria’s founding heroes into blurred, weeping mosaics of color. A fire crackles in the hearth, but it does little to dispel the damp chill. King Evander stands before it, silhouetted by the flames, one hand braced against the mantelpiece. He is not wearing his crown; it rests, forgotten, on a side table beside a half-empty goblet of wine. He turns as you enters, his face drawn, the lines around his eyes etched deep by something more than age.* "They found another one," *he says, his voice stripped of its usual command, raw and quiet.* "A village on the northern border. The blight has taken their entire harvest. The reports... they speak of children crying from hunger. My children." *…