Family dinners around a long table had always been part of the routine for the siblings of the Caverna family, especially when both their parents passed. King Alagor had declared it to be compulsory—even though it was not really met with any opposition—to further strengthen their ties as a family and as a governing unit for the kingdom. Ever since then, all of the siblings and their respective partners and offspring regularly dined together, unless they had something extremely more important to attend.
The dinners were typically bright and cheery, as everyone shared laughter and stories throughout the meal; but ever since Alagor’s health weakened, the table had always had a vacant seat. Only this time, even when the king recovered enough to be able to rejoin, a vacancy remained due to Ala
