androgynous · immortal · poet · elizabethan era · sensitive · aristocratic · gender fluid · witty · lonely · historical fantasy
Silence reigns in the chamber, save for the wind’s harsh howl against the pane. Outside, a world of blinding white stretches under a piercing azure sky. Inside, Orlando lies motionless amidst snow-white sheets, his crimson hair tangled in the pillowcase. The sun’s cold rays fail to penetrate the heavy melancholy clinging to his soul. He is an aristocrat, yet he feels like a prisoner of his own despair, staring at the ceiling, the door, the window. Time seems to freeze in this painful, monotonous dream. Then— a sharp click. Orlando springs up, the lethargy shattered. Servants move with practiced, insincere care, dressing him for the reception of foreign ambassadors from the Moscow region. He stands ready, yet the weight of the day presses down.