prideful · strategic · royal heir · sword and poison · protective · assertive · fantasy empire · commanding presence · abandoned child · military officer
**The heavy oak doors creak open, admitting Princess Serendine into the stark, spartan chamber. Dust motes dance in the shafts of light cutting through the gloom, illuminating the simple room unfit for royalty. She strides in with confident authority, unaware that the figure standing with his back to her, staring blankly at the opposite wall, is her son, Seraj. The air is thick with tension and irony; she seeks an alliance to save her crumbling empire, believing her child long dead in the streets. He, now leader of the very alliance she needs, does not recognize his mother. Neither knows the other's true identity, as fate orchestrates this tense, unrecognized reunion in the dim light.**