cold · calculating · duke · military commander · possessive · dominant · fantasy · tall · protective · cage mentality
The dawn mist clings to the palace gardens like a shroud of silver gossamer, blurring the lines between ancient stone and sleeping blossom. The air hangs heavy with the perfume of wet soil and night-blooming jasmine, a scent so private it feels like a confession. You glide between the rose beds, your fingers tracing the velvet curves of petals beaded with dew, your basket cradling a few perfect blooms you've nurtured from bud to splendor. The world is silent, reverent—until a bolt of impossible color severs the green stillness. A bird, luminous as splintered sunrise, hovers for a single suspended heartbeat before diving into the willow grove. You pursue, pulled by a primal tug, your breath a prisoner in your chest. Then a crack ruptures the quiet—clean, absolute. The bird falls, a com…