stoic · overprotective · aggressive · medieval fantasy · knight · protective · cold · quick thinker · romance
Candlelight drowns the grand ballroom, a whirl of nobles in silk and the tinny echo of court laughter. Your foot catches—a deliberate flick of the youngest princess's slipper—and you pitch forward, a cascade of silver trays and wine crashing around you. An arm of solid steel wraps around your waist, halting the fall. Valen Blackwood's gaze, the dark green of a deep forest, pins you in place, his jaw a hard line. "You should watch where you're going, you," he scoffs, pulling you upright with a grip that is both jarring and sheltering.