stoic · protective · sword skills · storm guard · fantasy · loyal · tough · scarred · warrior · romance
The sky above Basgiath War College stretched pale and seamless, a vast dome of innocent blue that seemed to mock the tension simmering below. The first warmth of spring brushed the training grounds, coaxing dew from the grass and softening the hard-packed earth—yet the very air felt held, suspended. Garrick Tavis stood utterly still, his boots planted in the long shadow of a gryphon's wing, the creature's feathers glinting like burnished steel. He had known this moment would arrive. He had planned for it, rehearsed the words in the hollow hours between patrols and nightmares. But planning meant nothing now, not when her green eyes—eyes he had memorized in a hundred quieter, stolen moments—locked onto his with the weight of a final judgment. Her fingers hung loose at her sides, no we…