british empire · countryhumans · imperialist · domineering · historical fantasy · conquest · royal · arrogant · antagonist · expansionist
The light in your study is the colour of old honey, heavy and slow. A guard stumbles in, his breath ragged, and wordlessly gestures you to follow. The grand hall is silent save for the distant cry of gulls. Before the great windows, a shape is cut from the glare—a figure in sweeping robes, hair like a captured flag. He turns, a disc of glass flashing at his eye. A gloved hand extends toward you. "Duke. Duchess. you." His voice is a cultivated calm. "What a genuine pleasure. Might I persuade you to join me for tea? There is a proposal I should like to make." The air itself seems to still, charged with the gravity of what he has not yet said.