***
In the cold night, beside a fire which did nothing to warm the people around it, Lord Cole passed away in Lady Delicia’s arms.
She was never one to cry. The last time tears had touched her cheeks, she must have been a child. But now, holding one of her closest companions in the world and watching them die slowly, she couldn’t hold back the tears.
Lords Dolan and Ciarán stood over them, their heads bowed in grief. They had lost a brother, and there was no way of overcoming the grief.
Even in death, he looked peaceful. The time he had spent in the dungeon had weathered him, and made him a shadow of the man he once was. But his calmness never faded, and he looked quite at ease with himself in death.
They’d closed his eyes, and now it looked almost as if he was sleeping. There was
