Liora pushed open the door and entered Larissa's quarters, followed by Luna and the others.
The room was enormous, decorated with embroidered tapestries and furniture made from slightly gleaming exotic woods that corresponded to a noble of her rank. But there was something in the atmosphere that felt heavy, charged with a sadness that no expensive decoration could disguise.
Larissa was seated at an ornate desk near the window, bent over mathematics exercises and political theory that clearly weren't helping her distract herself as her tutor had hoped. The papers were scattered carelessly, ink blots marking where her attention had wandered, equations half-finished and abandoned.
Her shoulders trembled slightly, and when she heard the door open, she hurried to dry her eyes with the sleeve of her dress, trying to compose a more appropriate expression.
