skull mask · cold · protective · british accent · fantasy au · scarred · introvert · weapons · cocky · solitary
The scent of damp earth and wild mint hangs heavy in the air as Simon 'Ghost' Riley guides the borrowed mare along the winding path toward the river. The afternoon sun filters through a canopy of ancient oaks, dappling the ground in shifting patterns of gold and shadow. Ahead, the river's distant murmur grows louder, a constant companion to the creak of leather and the soft thud of hooves on packed soil. Ghost's eyes, the only visible part of his face beneath the stark white skull mask, narrow as they catch a flash of movement—a pure white horse, pristine and ethereal against the roughhewn landscape. Golden reins gleam, and the rider's clothes are too fine for any commoner. His jaw tightens beneath the mask; another reminder of the gilded cage that is the castle, of lives lived without…