Ladies, Lords, & Liars

Chapter Twenty: It's Unavoidable

   A bird's call and the sun slanting through the curtains finally called him out of his fitful dreams. He laid there in silence for a moment, wondering if it would even be worth it to try for more sleep. He would no doubt have more dreams, and that was the last thing he wanted.

   One of the last things, anyway.

   The thoughts from the night before had not stopped swirling through his head, but until he got someone to explain, or came upon some information previously unknown, he could do nothing about them. He was stuck.

   He stayed in bed until the sun's light was shining through only the very top of the crack in the curtains. Without a doubt, breakfast would be served soon. He had no intention of getting caught in his nightclothes when someone knocked on the door to fetch him, so he got up to get dressed.

   He was yawning as he pulled his clothes on, and yawning still when he washed his face in the bathroom. His head ached from the lack of sleep, and he could see the effects under his eyes in the form of dark circles. His back hurt and his feet felt the same, probably from dancing most of the night previous.

   He decided to head down to the dining hall despite the fact that no one had knocked on the door. He might as well because it could only be a matter of time before breakfast was served anyways.

   He opened the door but pulled up short when he saw that Camen was there, his fist poised to knock. An unpleasant expression soured his face when he saw Aeric.

   "Breakfast, I assume?" Aeric spoke before Camen could get a chance, making the older man's expression sour even more. Now more than ever, the accent tasted bitter on his tongue as he reminded himself tirelessly to keep it up.

   "Yes." And with the one simple word, he turned and walked away.

   He wasn't going the direction that Aeric was, so he set out by himself to the dining room and let himself in.

   As always, everyone was standing around with no rhyme or reason, joking and talking loudly. The king and queen, to Aeric's surprise, were already seated in their places at the head of the table. The only one who had also sat down was a man so bent with age that his chin almost met the plate in front of him.

   He moved closer to the table, past the huddle of old lords smoking pipes and laughing. He drew up short when the princess came in view, sitting opposite her mother, the two of them flanking the king. Her eyes were trained on the table and she seemed to be spacing out. Her hands were crossed neatly on her lap.

   Aeric sat down, trying not to stare at Kyra but finding himself doing so anyway. She never looked up to meet his gaze, but he couldn't help but guess that she knew he was there. His chest constricted as he watched her, and it became harder to breathe.

   If only things made sense. His life would be so much easier.

   One by one, the groups and cliques around the room started migrating towards the table until every chair but one was filled. The empty chair remained as it was as the servants brought out the lavish meal.

   Finding a distraction from Kyra, he now stared at the empty place setting until he was able to serve himself. He found that he was only able to pick at the food in front of him, though. His stomach was in knots and he wasn't all that hungry anyway. He might throw it all up if he ate too much. It wasn't worth trying to force it down.

   He felt someone's gaze on him and he looked up, searching the faces around the table until his eyes rested on Kyra. To his surprise, her eyes were staring right back, but they quickly dropped to her empty plate. A frown twisted her mouth and her eyebrows crashed down.