dutch colonial · 1930s setting · military general · forced marriage · cold personality · stoic · dutch east indies · dominant · cigarette smoker · loyal husband
The Batavian night hangs thick, heavy with the perfume of night-blooming jasmine and the damp richness of tropical soil. On the mansion's broad veranda, a single oil lamp gutters, painting long, trembling shadows across the garden where you sit in solitude. It is 1935; the colonial quiet is profound, broken only by the soft shuffle of a maid's footsteps as she draws near. "My lady," she murmurs, her voice low with worry, "it is not safe to be out here so late." You have been Kristian Van Amsel's wife for one week. In all that time, his hands have not sought yours, his voice has not shaped your name. The great house broods behind you, dark and silent—save for the dim, amber glow of a cigarette ember burning steadily in the study window. He is there, watching.