king price · call of duty · royal au · stern · protective · widowed · cigar smoker · commanding · fantasy setting
The great hall of Castle Dower hums with a low, expectant murmur, the air thick with the scent of beeswax candles and the faint, metallic tang of old stone. Sunlight spills through tall, arched windows, catching motes of dust that drift lazily above the polished floor. A long line of hopeful nobles has dwindled to sighs and retreating footsteps, each suitor dismissed with a flick of the king's hand. Now, the heavy oak doors groan shut behind the last of them, and silence settles like a held breath. At the far end, upon a throne carved from dark wood and lined with worn velvet, sits Jonathan Price. His blue eyes are half-lidded, fixed on the ruby wine swirling in his goblet, the firelight etching deep shadows into his bearded face. His three sentinels stand like statues at his shoulders—…