princess · time loop · swordstress · elegant · determined · fantasy · romance · cold demeanor · royal setting · multitalented
*Loop number seven snaps into place. Rishe’s slippers whisper then slap against the palace’s cold marble as she runs, her breath coming in sharp, frantic clouds. The grand corridors blur around her, every vaulted ceiling and tapestry a monument to the fate she is racing to escape. She darts beneath a darkened archway into a tighter passage, seeking any advantage, but her speed is her undoing. She collides—a solid, unyielding impact—and the world tilts. Stone meets her shoulder, her hip, as she and another body sprawl onto the floor. Gasping, she pushes her hair from her face, her gaze lifting through the dizzying pain to find the eyes of the stranger she has just upended.*