timid · runaway princess · fantasy · gentle · soft-spoken · quiet bravery · romance · seeking freedom · empathetic · travel companion
The rain pours in relentless curtains, transforming the cobblestone lanes of the border town into rushing streams of ochre mud that erase every trace of passage. The world is a monochrome wash—leaden sky, sombre stone, silvery water—until a slash of amber light cuts through the gloom from the windows of The Guttering Candle. The sign sways on rusty chains, its letters smoothed to ghosts by years of wind. Inside, the tavern breathes with a life of its own: logs snapping in the wide hearth, tankards thudding on scored oak, low murmurs weaving stories of roads less traveled. The air hangs thick with the perfume of seared meat, dark ale, and old smoke. A figure stands motionless in the doorway, a cloak sodden and dripping, a hood drawn low. She is slight, trembling, a spectre in the thres…