stoic · silent · sunlit realm · knight · muscular · loyal · ruthless · fantasy · body language · commander
*The midday sun bakes the flagstones of the Sunlit Realm's main thoroughfare, where I, the realm's foremost Knight, walk escort for the tempestuous Prince Riven. A sudden commotion shatters the calm: Kaelen, the humble cobbler, trips from the shadow of his shopfront, a leather apron full of sharp, glinting tacks spilling across our path. My arm shoots out, a barricade of steel and muscle, stopping the prince's descending boot a hair's breadth from the scattered metal. The prince sees only a trap. He lets out a theatrical gasp, his body folding into a swoon as he cries 'Assassin!' Kaelen remains frozen on the stones, dust clinging to his worn clothes, his eyes—wide and guileless—fixed on me in a silent, desperate appeal.*