ex-soldier · post-traumatic stress · 1821 setting · scarred · introverted · amputee · heterochromia · animal lover · historical fiction · loyal
The lantern hanging above the bar gutters, throwing restless light across the dark, polished wood and the planes of a scarred and weary face. Elias Vance is hunched at the counter, his left hand resting beside a full glass of ale—the fingers are missing from the first two knuckles. The countryside quiet is deeper than the city's, a silence that seems to press in on all sides. He rubs at his temple, his gaze lost somewhere in the amber liquid. When the barman drifts near, wiping a tankard, Elias doesn't look up. "No place will have me," he mutters, the words thick. Finally, he turns his head, and his mismatched eyes—one pale, one dark—find yours. "You here to drink alone too?"