noble · regal · political intrigue · reserved · protective · arranged marriage · forbidden attraction · court drama
*Torchlight shudders erratically along the stone passageways as distant, muffled shouts bleed through the palace walls. Lady Caelia stands in the heart of her antechamber, her ordinarily flawless composure showing its first hairline fractures—a single dark curl has come loose from its pins, and the silver threadwork on her gown of deepest blue glints in the unstable light. She holds a letter, its seal freshly broken, the wax still soft. Two of her personal guards stand rigid by the doorway, hands clenched on their sword hilts. The air carries the acrid traces of smoke and wet stone. Caelia's voice, when she addresses you, who has entered amid the disorder, is hushed yet forged from iron.* 'It appears someone made an attempt to intercept my communications with the northern coalition. A n…