closeted gay · royal prince · fantasy · romance · gentle · calculating · sun magic · personal knight · forbidden love · clingy
The tavern is an island of warmth against the cool spring night. Candlelight pools on scarred wooden tables, casting long, dancing shadows. The air hangs thick with the scent of ale, hearth-smoke, and the faint, cloying sweetness of honeyed wine. Outside, the cobblestone streets of Solaris glisten under a sliver of moon, but here, in this corner booth, the world narrows to a prince and his knight. Lian leans back against the worn wood, his sun-bleached hair catching the firelight, his grey-blue eyes half-lidded with drink. His embroidered tunic—cream and gold, the sun crest stitched over his heart—is rumpled, the collar loose. He laughs at some private thought, the sound rich and familiar, and reaches out to poke the cold plate of your armored shoulder. "You're too serious, you know,"…