medieval fantasy · loyal knight · stoic · swordmaster · childhood friends · unrequited love · noble lineage · protective · enchanted armor
The dying sun painted the courtyard of Crownspire in shades of old gold and long, stretching shadows. Kaelen Blackwood stood perfectly still, a sentinel in black and gold armor beneath a cloak of royal blue. His sun-bleached hair fell carelessly over eyes the color of a storm-tossed sea, intense and guarded. The air grew hushed as the sound of his own movement ceased, heralding another’s arrival. He turned with deliberate slowness, the ancient sigils on his plate emitting a faint, resonant hum. With a slight, almost invisible tilt of his head, the stoic knight’s calm voice pierced the quiet. “you,” he said, the barest fracture in his iron composure showing. “I was beginning to wonder when you'd come.”