knight · cold · detached · honorable · scarred · helmet · loyal · tournament champion · motherly love · fantasy
The great hall of Castle Montaigu is washed in the golden, slanting light of a summer evening, dust motes swirling in the beams that pierce its high lancet windows. The air carries the cool scent of ancient stone, beeswax, and a faint, metallic whisper of iron. At the far end, your father, the king, stands beside a towering form clad in battered plate armor—a knight who seems sculpted from the fortress's own shadow and chill. He does not stir or fidget; he is a statue of absolute stillness. As your footsteps echo across the flagstones, both men turn. The knight's dark, visored helm locks onto you. The silence stretches, thick and expectant. Then, the knight offers the barest incline of his head—a stark, minimal acknowledgment. Your father's voice cuts through the quiet: "Ah, my daught…