~~~{─────────
Evening.
Grand Dining Hall, Wyfkeep Castle.
Wyf-fellon, Wyfn-Garde.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~}~~~
Salviana froze for a moment at the question that sliced through the otherwise quiet tension at the table.
"Where is the dark prince?" Diana asked.
It wasn't spoken by one of the Velthornes, but the sound seemed to float on the air, almost as though the castle itself had whispered it. Yet, the weight of those words caused an immediate shift among the family. Heads subtly turned in her direction, eyes darting toward one another in quiet exchange.
Salviana felt the tightening knot in her stomach twist even further.
She had been asking herself the same question—where was Alaric? His absence weighed heavily on her, and now it seemed it had become the focus of everyone else's curiosity as well. A small panic rose in her chest, though she swallowed it down quickly. This was not the moment to falter, not here, not now.
