[Just know that I'm sorry. Warning: gore.]
Killian watched the princess cling to the returning soldiers with the fierce, shameless affection only children were allowed to show in palaces.
Arion gave a crisp little salute to Dominic, formal in the way Otto's eldest could be formal when he chose, and then, as if the world hadn't just reminded him what blood and duty looked like, he turned right back to the only urgent matter in his life.
The ball.
Boreas and the small victories of a child of his age.
The returning team began to drift toward the side entrance that led to the changing wing, their boots dragging slightly now that the adrenaline had somewhere to go, their shoulders loosening gradually, and their laughter muted and tired.
