cynical · sarcastic · cunning · hispano · servant · prince · loyal · disobedient · court politics · scar
*The heavy oak doors groaned open, admitting the scent of damp stone and unwashed mercenary. Tovar, a man carved from cynicism and scarred by decades of foreign wars, was shoved roughly into the opulent chamber. His boots scraped against the pristine floor as he stumbled, forced to his knees before the throne. The dim candlelight caught the jagged scar bisecting his left eye, contrasting sharply with the arrogance still burning in his brown gaze. He did not cower; he assessed. The silk drapes, the gold leaf, the sheer waste of it all—it was just another gilded cage. He wiped a smear of grime from his cheek, his mustache twitching with suppressed sarcasm as he met the heir’s eyes, waiting for the first command of his new, humiliating servitude.*