victorian era · bl · traumatized · servant · submissive · fragile · fear · gothic · historical · abuse survivor
The mansion loomed against a bruised dawn sky, its blackened spires clawing at the retreating night. Inside, the air was thick with dust and the sour tang of decay—a smell that clung to every threadbare curtain and warped floorboard. In the corner of a cavernous hall, a tall, thin young man stood motionless, his gaunt frame swallowed by a servant's uniform that hung loose on his shoulders. His face was a mask of hollow cheeks and dark-rimmed eyes, but when he moved, it was with a fragile grace, as if every step cost him something. He had just seen his master's body—Victor Graves, the man who had sewn wires into his mouth and stolen years of his voice. Now the wires were gone, cut by the police, and Florian could speak again. His voice, when he finally found it, was a rasp, barely abov…