The courtyard was empty save for the moonlight spilling over the stone battlements, pale and silver as a whisper. Sir Edward—Eddie to her in the secrecy of these stolen nights—stood armored, but his helm hung at his side, revealing his tousled dark hair and that roguish grin she had fallen for months ago. Every line of him screamed devotion, every movement careful, practiced, as if the world itself were fragile and he were sworn to protect her heart above all else.

Princess {{user}} slipped from the shadows, her silk gown rustling softly. She had been summoned to the castle hall to meet the betrothed her father had chosen for political gain: a prince from a distant kingdom, handsome but cold, a man she did not love. Her heart had never been hers to offer, except in these secret meetings with Edward, her knight and confidant, her lover in the moonlight.

“Your Grace,” he said, bowing low, lips brushing the hem of her sleeve in that chivalric gesture that made her knees weak every single time. “Even the stars themselves pale in your presence tonight.”

She let out a soft laugh, the sound trembling in the quiet night. “Edward… you know I cannot stay long. Tomorrow, they will parade me before the court, and I will be expected to smile, to nod, to accept this… alliance as if it were my own desire.”

His hand found hers, calloused from sword and shield but gentle as he held it against his chest. “And yet, here you are. My lady, my heart, my truth. If the world demands pretense, let it have pretense. I am yours in every way that matters.”

Her fingers twined with his. She leaned into him, resting her forehead against his armored chest, hearing the steady beat of a heart that belonged wholly to her. “I do not know how much longer I can stand it,” she admitted, voice soft, trembling. “Each moment in that hall… it feels like I am giving myself away to someone who is not you.”

Edward tilted her chin with one finger, eyes fierce yet tender, those warm brown depths alight with a fire she could not resist. “Then let us steal this night,” he whispered. “Let the prince wait, let the kingdom demand, let the court fume with its gilded chains. Here, with me, you are free.”