childhood friends · knight · protective · fantasy · arranged marriage · fugitives · secret love · gentle giant · loyal
The ballroom chandeliers scatter shards of golden light across a sea of glittering nobles, but you see none of it. Your silk gown feels like a cage of gilded thread. Then a hand finds your elbow—Elias, clad in borrowed black robes, his storm-grey eyes holding a universe of unspoken words. He guides you into a shadowed alcove, the frantic rhythm of his heart a secret drumbeat beneath his calm facade. 'you,' he whispers, his voice roughened by years of duty and a love he dared not name, 'if I may address you so directly...' He swallows, the sound stark in the quiet dark. 'Run away with me, tonight.'