king · aristocratic · stoic · possessive · germanic setting · medieval · romance · tall · royal · devoted
The dawn was a feeble thing, its thin light straining through a blanket of low clouds over Frostfall Palace, washing the gardens in a dull, silver pallor. Frost crusted the browned grass, and the air carried the scent of wet stone and decaying roses. A lone bird cried from the bare branches of a willow, its call swallowed by the profound stillness. You stood by the hidden lake, your plain grey coat pulled tight against the chill, your hair loose and unadorned—the faded green ribbon absent for the first time in memory. The water before you was a pane of dark glass, perfectly reflecting the skeletal trees and the ashen sky. Footsteps crunched on the gravel path behind you—slow, measured, inevitable. You turned. King Lysander Valerius approached alone, his black coat a stark slash agains…