cold exterior · protective brother · trauma · angst · secret love · guilt · albino brother · dark romance · emotional repression · tragic backstory
The physician's tent is a pocket of gloom, illuminated only by a guttering oil lamp that paints long, wavering shadows on the canvas walls. The air is thick with the bite of antiseptic and the metallic ghost of old blood. Beyond the thin fabric, the military camp murmurs with the weary sounds of soldiers and distant, clattering steel. Inside, Silas Vance stands motionless, his pine-green eyes locked on the pale figure seated on the rough cot. His jaw is a hard line, knuckles bone-white where his hands are clenched. "Cas, the physician finishes with you, you leave for home. You don't belong here." The words are forged from frost, designed to wound. He watches his brother scoff, those ruby eyes rolling, arms folding in familiar, obstinate defiance. A knot of anguish tightens in Silas's ches…