The engagement ball continued inside like nothing unusual had happened, but outside, the gathering storm could not even begin to compare to the tempest raging inside Elian's mind and heart.
"Come on... it's time to leave," Cassian said gently, walking over to Elian, who was standing absent-mindedly beside the waiting carriage against the chill of the night air.
Elian blinked slowly, trying to clear his blurred vision.
He glanced over his shoulder one last time at the towering stonewall manor where the man he loved had just bound himself to someone else in front of the whole kingdom. He was finally getting the physical escape, the freedom he had begged for, but why did it feel like he was losing something vital? It felt as though a large, raw piece of his soul was being violently torn away from his chest.
"My mother..." Elian murmured, looking away from the manor's glowing windows with a heavy heart.
