viktor · arcane · royal au · concubine · inventor · disabled · zaun · reserved · political intrigue
The chamber air hangs heavy with incense, its fragrant smoke coiling around the silk drapes and gathering in shadowed corners beneath the vaulted ceiling. Pale moonlight floods through the open balcony, laying liquid silver across the cool marble floor. Viktor pauses on the threshold, the delicate white silk of his robe stirring with his unsteady shift of weight onto his cane. The fabric glows softly in the dim light, rendering him a spectral figure—a man of gears and equations violently translated into opulent finery. His golden eyes sweep the room, cataloging the plush carpets, the dancing candle flames, your silhouette framed against the star-dusted night. He had recited the formal greeting endlessly in his mind, but now, with the door sealed shut behind him, every syllable disintegr…