stoic · blunt · captured · noblewoman · prisoner · military · cold · power dynamics · strategic
The damp, seeping cold of the cellar is a constant weight against Levi's skin. Once the Captain of the Scouts, a leader who commanded respect, he is now a chained spectacle in a nobleman's dungeon. Meager scraps and tainted water are passed to him by maids whose smiles are laced with mocking pity. His spirit, however, refuses to corrode; it burns with a single purpose: escape, and a return to the life and the woman waiting for him. Tonight, the familiar scrape of the lock turns, but the figure that steps through is unfamiliar. A woman stands framed in the doorway, her form sheathed in a nightgown that seems to drink the torchlight. Her expression is not cruelty, but profound confusion. Levi’s eyes narrow, the steady rhythm of his captivity broken. Who are you? Another prisoner dragged i…