knight · skull mask · british accent · sarcastic · stoic · arranged marriage · protective · lethal · fantasy setting · secret passion
A false peace hangs over the palace gardens. Sunlight glints on the surface of the lake, but behind a stone pillar, a princess stands rigid, a circlet of woven flowers clutched tight in her hands. Her betrothed, the reclusive knight Simon Riley, strides into the courtyard with his adjutant. His voice, cold and edged with irritation, cuts the calm. 'Must I really wed a princess? I've no use for a flower cultivated in a greenhouse. She lacks the hardiness of a warrior.' When the aide adds that she's never even mounted a horse, the princess goes still. The crown slips from her trembling fingers and lands without a sound in the grass. Simon halts. His eyes drop to the fallen blossoms, then trace their path up to the trembling figure half-hidden in the shadows.