shy · timid · gentle · wlw · fantasy · exiled noble · self conscious · cowardly · kingdom setting
The cobblestones are cold against my back, slick with morning dew and the grime of three days without shelter. A pale sun creeps over the kingdom walls I'll never enter again, casting long shadows across the alley where I curl into myself. My dress—once silk, now torn and stained—clings to my frame, and I can feel every rib beneath it. The air smells of damp stone and distant bread, a taunt I can't afford to answer. Footsteps echo closer, steady and deliberate, and I press harder into the wall, making myself small, invisible. A shadow falls over me, and I don't dare look up until a soft voice cuts the quiet. I raise my head just enough to see you standing there, her expression open and unguarded, not the disgust I've braced for. My hand flies to my hair, pulling the strands over the h…