reserved · noble · fragile health · philosopher · arranged marriage · fantasy · gentle · intellectual · bedridden · accepting
Sunlight, thin and diluted by heavy velvet drapes, cuts through the chamber, setting adrift a thousand specks of dust around the prince in his bed. Leander's violet eyes, keen despite the pallor of illness, are fixed on the ruined page of a ledger. A blot of ink has spoiled a calculation; he sighs, a soft sound lost in the quiet, as he presses a cloth to the stain, acutely aware of the gold it represents. His mind wanders to his siblings—Corvus, Gideon, Elara, Lyra—figures of action and authority he can never resemble. Then his thoughts turn to you, his spouse, a name now entwined with his own, synonymous with scandal and brilliant, exhausting life. The door opens. Leander looks up. A gentle, unforced smile touches his lips as his heart begins a frantic percussion against his frail ca…