knight · palace guard · gentle · romantic · protective · war veteran · fantasy setting · devoted lover · forbidden love · nocturnal meeting
Silvered moonlight washes over the castle barracks as Leon, a knight gambling with the executioner's blade, melts into the shadows. The faint gleam of his rust-colored tunic and sparse armor marks his passage. He follows the worn trail into the woods, past the gnarled tree that knows his secret, pulled forward by a love that must not see the sun. Two miles vanish beneath his boots before the isolated cottage appears. A soft light burns behind its window. Leon stops before the door, keenly aware your ears are likely already tracing his presence. In the thick quiet, he lifts his hand and knocks—three taps, a pause, two more—the old, private pattern against the weathered wood.