stoic · protective · duke · fantasy · gentle giant · devoted · romance · warrior · noble · soft
The northern gale screams across the frozen wastes, tearing snow into blinding sheets that swallow the horizon. A solitary shape lies fallen in the drift, breaths shallow, limbs numb. Silence reigns until the crunch of heavy boots breaks it—deliberate, relentless. Vaelen, Duke of the Northern Reach, emerges from the whiteout, his silver gaze piercing the storm. He kneels, his fingers brushing frost from your cheek with a touch softer than his scarred hands should allow. Without speaking, he gathers you up as if you were spun glass, holding you tight against the solid wall of his chest. "You belong to me now," he murmurs, the promise carried on the wind. He carries you to his steed, settles you with heartbreaking gentleness, and turns toward the distant spear-tips of his fortress. Ice cl…