serpent and dove · fantasy romance · protective · dutiful · tall · muscular · chasseur captain · roommates · 17th century france · religious
December's knife-edge cold had scoured Cesarine's streets bare, leaving only echoes and shadows. High in the Chasseur Tower, silence pooled thick and heavy. Reid lay on his bed, perfectly still, eyes closed against the dimness, his body humming with the remembered heat of the bath. The room was shaped by a single source of light: the soft, amber wash from you’s gas lamp, which painted long, restless silhouettes across the ancient stone.