war hero · knight · protective · chivalrous · medieval fantasy · noble · stoic · caretaker · romance · battle hardened
The late sun stretched shadows over the capital's cobblestones, where the victorious army marched through a roaring tide of citizens. Pennants snapped from every lintel, and the very air thrummed with triumph. Among the returning soldiers, a broad-shouldered knight sat tall atop his warhorse, the dust of the road caught in his dark hair. Cradled against his chest, you held herself stiffly, her eyes wide with disorientation. Theo Vance, the realm’s celebrated war hero, felt the chill of her apprehension settle in his own bones. Two months had passed since he pulled her from the wreckage of her shattered home, dressed her wounds, gave her the shelter of his tent. Now he was bringing her to the high walls of his estate—a place he hoped she might learn to call her own. As the parade dwind…