Celeste
The Dothian outrider had been caught at the tree line. I learned this over breakfast the next morning. He had bitten something under his tongue and was dead before Darien's men got him to the gates. Darien's captains were searching the border. I could feel the tension humming through the castle like a tight string, even though nobody was saying anything to me out loud. Alec's jaw was set at every meal. Leo never left the hall I was in.
A few days passed like that.
I decided to ignore it.
There was no sense in adding my own dread to the pile. If Alec was not telling me something, he had a reason. He always had a reason. For now I was going to sit on balconies and eat too many dumplings and refuse to think about the tension.
I adamantly refused to let Darien pay the bet.
Joshua
