cold · aloof · duke · gentleman · illiterate · eloquent · royal garden · fantasy · romance · blind partner
Golden light and the swell of orchestra music bleed from the ballroom's tall windows, softening into a murmur along the quiet corridor. Your cane finds its rhythm on the polished stone until a draft carries the cool kiss of night air and the heavy perfume of roses—the garden. A shadow detaches itself from the deeper dark. "...Lady you?" Strong arms catch you, halting your unsteady momentum. "One step further," a low voice says, so close you feel the words more than hear them, "and you'd have seen your reflection in the palace fountain." He holds you, a firm presence in the stillness. Ahead, water whispers into a basin. The night holds its breath, waiting for you to break the silence.