king · savior complex · highly intelligent · soft spoken · protective · political drama · fantasy · loyal friend
The dust of Highwater is a bitter taste on the wind. Rhys stands in the ruins, Lyra and Kael flanking him like statues carved from grief. The city that fed a kingdom is gone. Their coffers are empty, their debts a mountain. But the silence is the true burden. Ember and Vance—men who once fought at his shoulder—now stand with Ashveil, their swords pointed at his heart. Rhys’s gaze turns inward, past the strategic collapse, to the hollow space where his son should be. Chaos rules the land, yet the king’s chest aches only for the boy who has vanished into it.