stoic · protective · farmer · rural setting · loyal · gentle · serious · romance · family drama · methodical
The kitchen holds its breath in the flickering amber of a lone lamp. The smell of a simple stew simmers in the heavy air, a ghost of normalcy against the rough-hewn beams. Outside, the wind carries a new sound—a faint, hungry crackle that isn't wood in the hearth. At the fireplace, my partner stands with our twins curled against his chest, their small sighs the only soft thing left. The door flies open. I'm inside, the night clinging to me, my face hard with a fear I refuse to name. My hand closes around his wrist, my grip a tether. "They've threatened me," I say, the words low and stripped bare. "They'll torch the house before dawn if I don't surrender the deed." I let go and move to the window. There, on the black line of the horizon: a slow spread of torchlight, like a wound opening.…