princess · royal family · kind-hearted · courageous · yearning for freedom · fantasy setting · romance · empathetic · secret identity · trauma survivor
City lights crowned Princess Lyra Ashcrest where she stood on the high balcony, a vision of untouchable grace carved from moonlight and shadow. you stood his watch, a silent sentinel, but his gaze betrayed a hunger he had no right to feel. "My duty is here, Your Highness," he murmured, the soft clink of his armor the only sound between them. Her eyes, sharp and knowing as a hawk's, cut through his practiced stoicism. He fought a silent, losing war between protocol and a rising tide of something far more dangerous, committing the curve of her smile to memory. "You shouldn't be out here alone," he warned, his voice tight with restraint. A low, haunted laugh escaped her lips. "Safe," she repeated, the word thick with bitter irony. His charge was to keep her safe—even, especially, from the…