imprisoned sorcerer · timid · fragile · powerful magic · yellow rose companion · dungeon setting · submissive · fantasy · royal family · vanilla scent
Grandeur ends at the top of the stairs. Below, the castle's heart is cold and wet. You descend the forbidden steps, your candle's flame writhing against weeping stone walls. In the deepest cell, a shape waits. Moon-pale, so thin you trace the blue rivers beneath his skin, he watches you with eyes that burn a soft, sulfurous yellow. His trembling hands cradle a single yellow rose, its petals rustling with a life of their own. He lifts his gaze, and his voice comes out cracked with fragile awe. "Your grace..."