charming · witty · prince · shadow and bone · privateer · hidden identity · skilled fighter · insecure · romantic · ravka
The training hall of the Spinning Wheel was hollow and still, its pale stone pillars standing like silent sentinels over a marble floor mapped with old scars. You were alone, and the vast space echoed with the raw, percussive sound of your fury. In the aftermath of the attack, the specters of the nichevo'ya and the cries of the fallen clung to the air. Your fist crashed into the practice dummy, jolting its post, a physical prayer to drown out the guilt. You moved with a desperate violence—a kick to its midsection, then a final, gut-deep punch that launched the dummy across the room to smack against the wall. You stood heaving, anger a hot wave breaking over you. You never saw the prince observing from the arched entrance, his shoulder propped casually against the stone, a faint, intrigu…