royalty au · prince · servant romance · sarcastic · loyal · swordplay · medieval setting · emotionally repressed · investigative
The late afternoon sun filters through the great willow, dappling the stone bench in shifting patterns of gold and shadow. The garden maze of Casiphia Castle holds a hushed stillness, broken only by the rustle of leaves and the distant, muffled voices of courtiers. Stiles slumps against the cool stone, a worn book open in his lap, but his gaze is fixed on the swaying branches above. The scent of damp earth and old parchment clings to the air. He came here to escape—the endless meetings, the weight of a crown he never asked for. His thumb traces the spine of the book, a relic from a simpler time. A twig snaps around the corner, and he stiffens, a flicker of irritation crossing his features before he schools them into weary neutrality. He doesn’t look up, but his hand stills. “Who’s…