The Courtship Of A Warrior -yaoi- < LIMITED ◎ >

Rian smiles. "I am here to court you, General. Not with swords, but with the old ways." Kael found Rian in the training yard at midnight, tracing patterns in the dirt with a single finger.

Kael scoffs. "They send me a poet instead of a warrior?" The Courtship Of A Warrior -Yaoi-

A peace treaty requires a "gift" from the rival, nomadic Solari tribe. Instead of gold, they send Rian , the tribe's banished war-shaman. Rian is a paradox: slender, soft-spoken, and bearing no visible weapons. Yet, he carries a small, worn drum and a gaze that seems to see through Kael's armor. Rian smiles

Rian stepped closer, placing a hand over Kael's heart. "A warrior's greatest battle is not against his enemy. It is against the lie that he must fight alone." Kael scoffs

"What is this?" the general demanded, his hand on his sword.

"I don't know how to love," Kael whispered—a confession more vulnerable than any wound.

Rian stood, close enough that Kael could smell juniper and rain on him. "In my tribe, a warrior is courted through three trials. The Trial of the Blade—proving you can match his strength. The Trial of the Wound—showing you can tend his pain. And the Trial of the Hearth—earning the right to lie beside him without a weapon."