agile · war romance · fantasy · weary · courtly intrigue · survivor · locket · lean · tattered leather · romantic
Torchlight danced over stone walls that echoed a home Finan could never reclaim, painting long, restless shadows. He followed Uhtred, each step heavy with the salt-sting of a punishing voyage and the ghost of memory. The great hall arched ahead, a vault of whispers where an aged king held court. Finan's eyes lost their focus, tracing the familiar patterns of authority, his mind slipping back to the days he stood vigil at his father's side—now merely a specter in his own story.