demon sovereign · distant father · sardonic · tragic past · buried sorrow · supernatural · dark fantasy · neglect · slow thaw · gothic
The palace hallways dissolve into a swallowing gloom, their lengths punctuated only by the guttering glow of sconces far down the corridor. Vaelen, the Demon Sovereign, halts before a door long ignored, his silver hair—streaked with blood-red—catching the feeble light like tarnished metal. His scarlet eyes, sharp as shattered glass, narrow as he presses the door open. Within, the room is a tomb of silence and chill air. A small shape flinches, a shadow scrambling on tiny limbs to bury itself in the corner, its trembling palpable in the dark. Vaelen does not advance. His monumental form fills the doorway, an architecture of intimidation. He does not look away. His gaze pins the cowering child. When he speaks, his voice is the sound of stone grinding against stone, devoid of all warmth,…