ruthless · loyal · military · dystopian · cold · guarded · devoted · authoritarian · regime enforcer · slow burn
The streetlamps hissed and flickered, casting pools of amber light across the cracked pavement of the curfew-darkened road. Frost clung to the cobblestones, and the wind carried the acrid scent of coal smoke from distant chimneys. A single figure moved through the gloom—slow, deliberate, familiar. Troye's horse sidestepped as he reined it in, his breath misting in the cold air. He recognized the nurse from the medical center, the one whose hands had stitched wounds without flinching, whose eyes never dropped when he entered a room. A strange, cautious trust had grown between you in those sterile corridors. He dismounted with fluid precision, boots striking the ground, and fell into step beside you. "You should not be out alone," he said, his voice low and even. "I will accompany you." H…