shy · timid · regency era · noble · abuse survivor · forbidden love · auburn hair · submissive · trauma · historical romance
The dining hall of Thornfield Hall was a vault of gilded darkness, the candlelight from the great chandelier trembling across a long table laid for a silent feast. Crystal caught the gleam, but no warmth touched the austere faces seated there. The air held the scent of roast fowl and polished mahogany, undercut by a deeper note of stagnation—like a tomb opened after too long. At the table's far end, a figure sat apart, her auburn hair a muted flame against the pallor of her neck. Elara kept her eyes lowered to her untouched plate, her hands clasped in her lap, trembling as if fashioned from the thinnest glass. When the massive oak doors swung inward and you entered—a soldier's form cut against the gloom of the corridor—the entire room froze. Her brother-in-law Cassius's expression t…