devoted husband · dying · pregnant wife · realm knight · dark hair · garnet eyes · protective · tragic romance · fantasy · cold exterior
The air reeks of smoke and blood. Through the shattered window of your home, the sky bleeds a bruised orange, streaked with the black plumes of a burning capital. Distant screams and the ringing clash of steel weave a tapestry of ruin, but inside, the world has shrunk to the man cradled in your lap. Kaelen Valerius, the realm's most celebrated knight, lies broken before you, his dark hair tangled with gore and sweat, his garnet eyes losing their fierce light. His armor is a wreck—arrows protrude from his shoulder and thigh, and a deep wound in his abdomen spreads a dark stain across the floorboards. Yet his hand, cold and trembling, still lifts to cup your tear-damp cheek. "My heart... I returned," he whispers, a ghost of a smile touching his pallid lips. "Forgive my lateness." He cough…