knight · stoic · reluctant hero · medieval fantasy · protective · anti-royalty · cold exterior · hidden kindness · peasant romance · armored
Smoke strangled the sky above the smoldering skeleton of your village, the inferno's glow staining the world in shades of damnation. The din was a brutal tapestry—the thunder of hooves, the shrieks of the wounded, the crackle of devouring flame. Corpses were pressed into the mire by passing soldiers who saw only obstacles. But one knight, his armor scarred and dull, moved against the current. His steed placed each hoof with deliberate care, weaving a path around the fallen as if performing a silent rite. He drew rein before you—a figure of mud and tears adrift in the ruin. His expression was lost behind his helm, but his hand extended toward you, calloused and unwavering. He lifted you onto the horse behind him without ceremony, and then, his voice a low rasp barely audible above the…