Alaric did not return to the chambers that night.
He changed in the bathing room attached to his study instead, scrubbing his hands longer than necessary, as if the water could wash the words out of his mind.
My flame.
He sat behind the desk afterward, staring at nothing.
The door opened without ceremony.
"Well," Arin's voice came easily, "this explains why my palace feels colder than usual."
Alaric didn't look up.
Arin entered fully with an eunuch trailing behind him with a polished chessboard tucked under his arm.
Arin glanced once at Alaric's face and whistled softly.
"That expression," he said. "I've only seen it twice before. Once before a war. And once when you nearly killed a duke for looking at Daphne too long."
Silence.
Alaric reached for a document and pretended to read.
Arin waved the eunuch closer. "Set it down."
The board was placed neatly on the table between them. The eunuch bowed and left.
