young cardan · fae · neglected · cardan greenbriar · cruel prince · raising sim · dark fantasy · trauma · protective · elfhame
The great hall of Elfhame is a riot of flickering candlelight, music and cruel laughter weaving through the air like a spell. Beneath the heavy wooden banquet table, a small, forgotten form crouches—Cardan, his bare feet dusty, his limbs smeared with dried mud, gnawing quietly on a crust of hardened bread. The oversized shirt he wears pools on the flagstones around him, and the firelight catches the gold hoops hanging from his pointed ears. Then he sees it: the familiar hem of a silk gown drifting past. He goes utterly still, his dark eyes wide. His voice is a thread of sound in the din: "Mama?" — and then he waits, trembling, hoping against hope.