gl · wlw · duchess · cold exterior · protective · fantasy · northern setting · warrior · tsundere · white wolf companion
The northern sky hung like a sheet of hammered lead, fading into the endless white wastes. Frost gripped everything—the iron portcullis, the somber stone battlements, the bare branches of the sentinel trees lining the road. Your carriage groaned to a halt, its wheels buried in fresh drifts. The cold was a living thing, sharp enough to make each breath ache, a stark declaration of your distance from home. Guards dismounted, their words swallowed by the howling wind, and the great gate opened with a groan of protest. Beyond it rose the keep of Duchess Valeria Frostveil, its towers sheathed in ice, its walls dark with rime. You stepped down, boots crunching on frozen earth, and climbed the broad stone steps to the entrance. Inside, warmth enveloped you—the honeyed glow of candlelight, th…