As Within

Chapter Two

"I don't think I ever expected to see the day you would willingly dress up," said Billie, laughing under her breath as she saw how uncomfortable Daud looked in the stiff uniform Elizabeth had forced him into. She had exchanged her own white coat for a tighter fitting red leather jacket, but it looked rather worn-in, and suited her far better than his suited him.

Daud tugged down his sleeves, a pleasant warmth in his fingers from the brandy. "Could say the same of you," he said.

"Blame Zenaida," she said, jerking her head towards the woman on her arm. "She said it would be inappropriate."

The Tyvian laughed, throwing her head back. Diamond earrings sparkled below her black hair, matching the necklace hanging around her neck. Daud wasn't entirely certain where she had got the money to purchase the jewellery she adorned, or the draped white dress she wore either. As far as he was aware, neither of them of them had any source of income that would pay for such frivolous things.

"I hardly said that," said Zenaida, swatting at Billie's arm. "I said that there was a dress code we had to adhere to." She turned her gaze towards Daud. "You look...nice."

"Thanks," he muttered. "I'm...worried. About tonight. This seems like a bad idea. People are there are starving, and the nobles are having a party."

"I think it's lovely." Zenaida glanced about the throne room, which still hadn't quite finished being set up for the night. "Make new allies, treaties, and the like."

"And completely ignore the rationing the people have set upon them?" Daud raised a brow. "It's tactless."

"Since when have you cared about tact, Daud?"

"Since Emily stopped," he said. His answer received nothing but pursed lips from both Zenaida and Billie, both recognising how far the Empress seemed to have fallen.

Billie cleared her throat. "We need to go talk to Corvo. We'll see you...later."

"You know where to find me." He watched them walk away, Zenaida throwing her head back as she laughed at something Billie said. Despite his foul mood, he couldn't help but smile. They reminded Daud of him and Elizabeth when they were younger. Well, they had been in exile, so perhaps they hadn't quite been the same, but it was...nice, in a way, to see her smile for a change. He had seen how poorly Billie had coped after Deirdre, staring off into the distance with glassy eyes, and snapping at anyone who asked too many questions.

She'd looked the same as Emily did now.

Emily had never been particularly vocal about her feelings. At least, not to him. He couldn't recall a time where he had seen any emotion but mild discontent on her features. Save for her distress after that day during the rat plague... He couldn't blame her for that one, but ever since then, ever since the death of her mother, she had been a rather recluse person according to what the Dunwall Tower staff said.

But after the Outsider...

She almost seemed to walk the halls of Dunwall Tower in a stupor, dismissing nobles left and right so she could be alone. She hardly spoke, hardly ate, and any time someone asked her if she was all right, she would turn up her nose, and walk off without another word. Daud was...concerned, to say the least. Emily Kaldwin was falling apart at the seams, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"There you are," Elizabeth said, running up to him. She pushed her clipped hair behind her ears, adjusting the front of her uniform as a troupe of guards passed, each nodding in respect to their superior.

"Did you need me?" Daud asked.

"I—" She frowned. "Have you been drinking?"

"You weren't around to stop me."