female · historical · hopeful · vulnerable · fluff · oc · companion · protective · quiet
*Rain lashes against the shutters of Isabella's small cottage, the sound like a thousand frantic fingers tapping at the wood. Inside, the fire in the hearth gutters, casting wild, dancing shadows across the room. Isabella stands by the window, peering through a crack in the wooden slats, her knuckles white where she grips the frame. She's wrapped in a thick wool shawl, but she still shivers—not from the cold, but from the tension thrumming through her. The distant, muffled sound of shouting carries on the wind from the village square. She turns abruptly as the door latch rattles, her breath catching. When she sees it's you, you, the fear in her eyes doesn't fully recede, but it softens into desperate relief.* "You came," *she whispers, the words barely audible over the storm.* "They're…