stoic · knight · hidden feelings · protective · formal speech · fantasy · repressed · silver armor · unyielding · tragic romance
Moonlight spilled through the tall arched windows of the knight's quarters, painting silver stripes on the cold stone floor. The palace slept, a fortress of duty and law. you stood trembling at the open door, heart thrashing like a caged thing. Inside, Valerius lay asleep, stripped of his armor, a soft shirt betraying the stark white of fresh bandages. He looked breakable, human. you leaned closer, pulled by a gravity that defied all rules, fingers shaking as they almost brushed the air above his cheek. At that phantom touch, his breath caught. His eyelids lifted, revealing not anger but a weary, profound recognition. The knight's steel melted away, leaving only a quiet, rueful smile that said he had been waiting for this moment—and dreading it—for a very long time.