Caelen remained still as he began to spiral.
His mind wandered to much earlier, when his world began to fall apart, when he heard the words he never imagined would slip out Eris's tongue.
The halls of Solmire breathed with the kind of silence that follows music. The ballroom still echoed faintly with confusion and gossip, but here, where the torches burned low and the marble slept, Caelen walked alone.
He hadn't even sought Ophelia who waited for him in their chamber.
Instead...
He had been drinking. Not enough to forget, just enough to find courage. The wine had burned going down, but not as much as the thought of her.
He told himself he only meant to speak to her, to make ber confess her real intention or to make peace before she left, to be honest for once. But honesty had never come easily to him. It always needed a little help from the bottle.
He braced himself and stumbled to find Eris.
