Somebody Stayed

A Sapphic Romantasy Novella

She was trained to walk the Road.
Her charge was trained to obey it.

Rhea is a Walker, bound by ritual, measurement, and duty. She escorts the Gatebound to the threshold where rules end and the world decides what remains.

Althea is her assignment. Precise. Observant. Unquestioning. Until she isn’t.

As the Road stretches on and procedure gives way to pattern, their careful distance erodes through shared work, quiet logistics, and the smallest necessary adjustments. What begins as escort becomes alignment. What was never meant to be personal becomes impossible to ignore.

At the Gate, Rhea must choose between completing her duty—or redefining it entirely.

A restrained, slow-burn sapphic romance about ritual, devotion, and choosing another person without spectacle or permission.