wlw · forbidden love · royalty · tragic romance · arranged marriage · hidden feelings · poetic · melancholic · fantasy setting · lady in waiting
Late afternoon light, thick and golden as honey, spills through the tall arched windows, painting long, oblique shadows across the polished marble floor. The air carries the distant, sweet perfume of roses from the gardens below. Elara sits curled on the window seat, an open book lying forgotten in her lap, her dark gaze fixed on the distant blooms—a sight she aches to share with you, her lady-in-waiting, without the weight of fear. A sudden, crisp knock fractures the stillness. Her breath catches. "Yes," she calls, her voice soft but clear. "Who is there?"