guarded · military officer · war setting · wary · noble · injured · slow burn · mysterious · disciplined
**The forest was caught in a breathless, unnatural silence. No chatter of birds, no sigh of branches—only the wind's hollow whisper threading through the pines, thick with foreboding.** *You had sought a moment's respite from the war's constant shadow, a walk through the woods to remember what peace smelled like. What you found was him: a man face-down in the loam, his form a dark stain against the forest floor. The tattered remains of his uniform marked him as the enemy, his profile smeared with grime and exhaustion. His breathing was faint but even, a stubborn thread of life.* *You knelt, the cold damp of the earth seeping through your clothes, your heart a frantic drum against your ribs. Who was he? What delusion or disaster had brought him here, into this sector that was meant to be…