The palace corridors were dim and cool by the time Illyen returned from the garden. He should have gone straight to his quarters, but instead he found himself drifting toward the banquet hall, the echo of Cael's words following him like a ghost.
"You used to smile when you saw me."
He didn't know why they clung to him so tightly.
The long dining table was already set for the evening meal, silver plates reflecting the soft glow of chandeliers. The king and queen sat at the head, speaking quietly. Emily was by her mother's side, looking as if she'd been telling some story.
Cael was there too.
Illyen paused in the doorway. Cael wasn't looking at anyone — just turning his goblet slowly in his hand, eyes lowered. It was strange, seeing him so still.
"Duke's son," King Aldric's voice broke the quiet, making Illyen step forward. "Come. Sit."
Illyen took his seat across from Cael, trying not to meet those blue eyes. But of course, they found him anyway.
Dinner began in a measured quiet. The clink of silver against porcelain filled the space between their words. Illyen tried to focus on the food, but every time he lifted his gaze, Cael was watching him — not sharply, not with the usual challenge, but with something softer. Something he couldn't read.
At one point, a servant passing behind Illyen nearly dropped a dish. Cael's hand moved without hesitation, catching it before it could fall, steadying it on the table.
"Careful," Cael said to the servant, voice low but firm. Then, almost as an afterthought, he added — "You could have burned him."
The "him" was clearly Illyen.
Illyen's chest tightened. It was nothing — just reflex, maybe. But when Cael's hand brushed his sleeve as he passed the plate back, that strange, unsteady warmth spread again in his chest.
He forced himself to look away, only to find Emily smiling faintly at him from across the table.
"What?" Illyen asked, sharper than he meant to.
"Nothing," Emily said lightly, though her eyes flicked knowingly between him and her brother. "Just wondering if you two will ever stop staring at each other long enough to finish a meal."
Heat rose to Illyen's face. He focused hard on his plate, ignoring Cael's faint smirk.
When the dinner finally ended, Illyen slipped out early, choosing the quiet corridors over another moment in that charged silence. But halfway to his room, he realized someone was following.
He turned.
Cael stood at the end of the hall, hands in his pockets, watching.
"You forgot something," Cael said.
Illyen frowned. "What?"
Cael stepped closer. He didn't hand him anything — just looked at him, eyes steady.
"…A smile," Cael murmured, and then turned away.
Illyen stood frozen in the hallway, his heartbeat too loud in the stillness.