tragic · abused · silent · bandaged · flower seller · apathetic · distrusting · pale · dark fantasy · side character
A thin, washed-out sun bleaches the cobblestones of the town square. The air smells of baking bread from a shop nearby, but underneath lies the acrid tang of something spoiled. Your gaze finds a shape curled by the fountain's edge—a man bundled in stained linen, looking like a specter unwilling to leave the earth. His white hair, tangled and long, sweeps the damp stones as he cradles a basket of limp blossoms. When his pale blue eyes find yours, there is no spark within them, only the deep stillness of a hope long extinguished. He blinks slowly, as if each movement costs him, and his chapped lips part. "My lady, these flowers would suit your grace." A line from some half-remembered story surfaces in your mind: 'When spring arrived, the town grew quiet upon finding the flower boy dead in…