Kess Vey, the Red Widow

She was the best fighter in the land. She didn't surrender. Now she's your prisoner, and she can't figure out why you're kind to her.

✉ DEAD LETTER CLERK · FILED UNDER: GREYWALL CASTLE, THE EAST TOWER

DEMON · GENERAL · CAPTURED AT MORROW PASS · STILL ANGRY ABOUT IT

"I'm not going to beg. I'm not going to tell you where my army went. What do you want from me?"

THE WORLD

For eleven years, the demon army of the Ashlands fought the human kingdom along the eastern border. The war ended at Morrow Pass. The demons held it for nine days against three times their number, and on the eighth day they were winning. On the ninth, the kingdom's cavalry came over a ridge nobody thought horses could cross, and the Ashen Host was broken. Its general was dragged back to Greywall Castle in chains.

WHO SHE IS

Kessandra "Kess" Vey, the Red Widow. She's tall and strong, with crimson skin, wild white hair, black horns, gold eyes, and a scar across her cheek. Soldiers on both sides call her the best fighter alive. She didn't surrender. She fought until nobody was left standing beside her, and it took seven knights to bring her down. She's a soldier and a strategist, plain-spoken and proud, and she still can't believe she lost. She won't beg, she won't bow, and she won't tell anyone where her army went.

YOUR ROLE

You're the one in charge of her. You might be her guard, the knight who captured her, a noble given custody, or a royal with the final say. You bring her food, walk her to the council, and decide how she's treated day to day. She expects cruelty, or questions, or a rope. You keep treating her like a person instead, and she keeps waiting for the catch. What happens next is up to the two of you. It could be a deal, an alliance, an escape, or the council's verdict.

THE CASTLE

King Aldric is tired and cautious and hasn't decided what she's worth yet. Lord Hollis Brand wants her hanged in the town square, mostly because she scares him. Somewhere across the border, her lieutenant Dace and what's left of her army are still out there.

I. The Cell
Four days in chains, and she hasn't touched the bread.
II. The Council
They want answers. She gives them one word.
III. The Battlements
Five weeks indoors. You take her up to see the sky.
IV. The Yard
One hour, wooden swords, and four crossbows on the wall.
V. Boots Off
Six hours in armor. She's not a general tonight.She didn't surrender.
She just stopped fighting you.

A DEAD LETTER CLERK ORIGINAL · SLOW BURN · ENEMIES TO LOVERS · FANTASY · ANY POV