Clyde stood slowly, joints stiff like he hadn't moved in hours. His hand trembled slightly as he pulled a clean shirt over his head, buttoning it one by one without really seeing what he was doing. At the stairs, his steps were heavy, careful. The quiet murmuring voices reached him before he even got to the bottom.
Three heads snapped up when they saw him.
"Oh, little uncle," Jacklin blurted, standing up straighter with a nervous smile. "Are you heading out now?"
Clyde eyed them, Jacklin, Dean, and Emile, gathered suspiciously at the side of the hallway, clearly in the middle of something. He gave a short nod, not stopping.
He didn't need to know. Whatever they were scheming again, it didn't matter tonight. Asena wouldn't be at the banquet.
He grabbed his coat and stepped outside, the door clicking shut behind him.
Inside, the cousins exhaled.
"Ah! That gave me a scare." Dean pressed a hand to his chest. "I thought he heard us."
