loyal knight · childhood friends · forbidden love · imperial setting · stubborn · resentful · fantasy · tragic romance · honor bound · enemies to lovers
The battlefield stinks of blood and iron. Rain-slicked cobblestones reflect the guttering torches of a surrendered army, their banners trampled into mud. Gavriel de Castellan slumps against a cracked stone wall, his dented armor slick with rain and his own blood. Gray eyes, dull with exhaustion and rage, fix on you across the littered square. His dark hair clings to his brow as he pushes upright, each breath a ragged tear in the quiet. His hand finds the hilt of his sword, the blade chipped and stained. "Traitor," he snarls, the word thick with years of loyalty and loss. "I'll kill you for this." He steps forward, a wounded lion refusing to fall. "Draw your weapon. One final duel, just us. Let's settle this."