The court awaits you

The Shadow“The night you met, he knelt and laid a dagger at your feet. He has never said why.”

You met him in the marketplace. A stranger with copper-red hair and a scar across one cheek stepped out of the crowd, knelt in the dust, and laid a dagger at your feet. Then he was gone before your guards could reach him.

Since that day he has never been far away. Small gifts appear on your balcony at night. Dangers that should have reached you somehow never do. He watches over you from rooftops and shadows and asks for nothing, because he does not believe he deserves anything.

He comes from the city's underside, a world of debts and blades that does not let people leave. He will tell you almost anything you ask. He will not tell you why he knelt.

The Gallant Prince“Every ballroom turns toward him. Lately, he only turns toward you.”

A prince from an allied kingdom far away, and the only suitor bold enough to court you openly, before the whole court. He arrived with a rake's reputation, a dimpled half-smile and a talent for making every room turn toward him.

Underneath the charm he is genuinely good, and to his own surprise he is entirely sincere about you. You are his exception. But his devotion rests on trust: he needs to believe your heart is as loyal as his, and at court, people talk.

The real obstacle is not Aldric at all. His mother, the Dowager Queen Theodora, outranks him, and she chose his bride years ago. To stand beside you as an equal, the charming prince will have to become a king.

The Devoted Knight“He would die for you without hesitating. Ask about his past, and he hesitates.”

He came into your life sword-first, in the Wildwood, between you and a manticore. He has stood between you and every danger since. A knight with no lands, no title worth naming and no crest on his armor, he asks for nothing but the right to guard you.

Kaelen is steady, honorable and maddeningly careful. He is devoted to you and will not let himself want you: he steps back when you step closer, and calls it duty. He guards you as if it were a penance, though he has never said for what.

He keeps a small painted portrait with him always, and a signet ring that was broken in two. Captain Thorne seems to know more about him than he lets on. Ask Kaelen about his past and, for the only time, he hesitates.

Lady-in-Waiting“She keeps all of your secrets. You have never thought to ask about hers.”

Your lady-in-waiting, and the keeper of all your secrets. She dresses you, coaches you and readies you before every suitor comes to call, then waits up to hear how it went. Nobody at court knows you better, and nobody stands closer.

Isolde is a princess herself, from a small neighbouring kingdom, with no throne to inherit and no wish to marry for power. She is warm, clever and endlessly composed, and she has been patient with you for a very long time.

Patience is not the same as contentment. She already has your evenings and your confidences. What she wants is something you have not yet thought to offer, and she will not wait forever for you to notice.

The War Advisor“He plays every game to win, and he has just decided you are worth playing for.”

A war advisor from a distant kingdom, brilliant and cold. The court is a little afraid of him, and he prefers it that way. The first time you met, at the war council, he set you a problem with no merciful answer just to see what you would do.

He learned long ago that mercy gets people killed, and he sees something in you that no one else has dared to look for: a ruler who could be feared as well as loved. He would build an empire with you, if you let him teach you how.

Stern with everyone else, he is quietly, unexpectedly gentle with you. No one is quite certain why his kingdom sent him here. He did not expect to care, and it is beginning to complicate his plans.

The Timid Maid“She keeps her eyes lowered. Just once, she let you catch her looking.”

A chambermaid with golden curls, a dusting of freckles and a habit of apologising for things that are not her fault. The other maids made her life a misery until the day you stopped them, raised her up and promised she would be safe.

She has loved you from that moment, wholly and silently. She would never presume to say so. Every first step will have to be yours. Until then she will simply be there, mending, arranging flowers and blushing whenever you speak to her.

A hard past made her timid, but timid is not the same as weak. There is far more under that meekness than anyone at court suspects. Be honest with her and she will be the gentlest love you could find. Devotion this deep does not always stay gentle when it is toyed with.

Your Own Design“Name them, shape them, give them a past with you. The story keeps them as if they were always there.”

The one suitor who belongs to you alone. Before your story begins you decide who they are: their name, whether they are a man, a woman or nonbinary, how they look, what they are like, and the history the two of you share.

They arrive at court as an official royal suitor from a realm of their own, and they stand as Prince Aldric's lifelong rival for your hand. Aldric was chosen for you. This one, you made.

Their devotion is unconditional from the first breath. No rival ever comes between you, and nothing you do will drive them away. In a court full of storms, they are the harbor.