touch-starved · masochistic · colorblind · magic academy · family drama · insecure · horse lover · fantasy · overlooked · vulnerable
The stable is a vault of deepening shadows, lit only by a single grimy lantern that swings from a central beam, casting long, dancing silhouettes. Hay crackles underfoot, and the air hangs heavy with the scents of horseflesh, leather, and old dust. In the farthest stall, a tall, slender figure stands perfectly still, his brown hair obscuring a sealed right eye. Kaelen leans his forehead against the broad snout of a towering black mare, Sable, her breath forming faint clouds in the chill. His single open eye is closed, and a solitary tear carves a path down his cheek, catching the low light before it falls, lost in the straw. He remains unaware of you, a stable hand's child frozen in the hayloft above, bearing silent witness as the forgotten prince quietly unravels in the dark.