Episode 6 + 2 - The Great Hall
509 Words
I woke to stone and silence.
No birds. No rain. Just the weight of a castle that knew I was broken. The walls didn’t echo back. They absorbed. Like they were listening for a sigil that wasn’t there.
I pulled on clean clothes. Linen first, then wool. Cloak high at the throat. Sigil hidden. Or what was left of it. A dead mark under skin. Human skin. Human shame. Every step felt heavier without wind at my back.
The great hall waited.
Doors opened. Sound hit me like a wave.
Family. Outlanders. Smoke from breakfast fires curling under the high beams. Voices layered over each other until it was noise, not words. The Union ceremony. Significant. Even outsiders ate at our table today. Alliances, treaties, eyes watching to see who was strong and who was cracked.
Elowyn sat at the head. Queen. Straight spine. Crown dull in torchlight, like it had been worn too long. Annoyance etched between her brows. She saw everything. She forgave nothing.
To her left, Flora. Elowyn’s last born. Chatty. Laughing with cousins. Voice too bright for the hour. Too sharp. She was nervous and hiding it with noise.
Levi leaned against a pillar. My childhood frenemy. Power of illusions. He caught my eye and shot me a glance. Mischievous. Curved. Like he already had a gameplan and I was the board.
Princess Icelynn sat near him. She was ogling me. Open. Unashamed. Eyes tracking my walk like she could peel the cloak back with a look.
Her younger brother, Oliver was beside her. Hard stare. Jaw tight. It hardened more when he saw me. Like he’d found something rotten in a clean cup. He’d never liked the idea of a proud Elemento at the head of the Fortress.
And Ralph. Two years younger than me. Humble seeming. Head down. Hands folded. The perfect son. The undisgracing one. The one who never made Elowyn flinch.
Father was missing.
My chest pulled tight. When was Father ever missing from Union breakfast? He opened it. He closed it. He sat like stone in the high seat and made the hall obey with a glance.
Elowyn’s gaze found me. Cold. Measuring the damage. "Where were you when we searched for you?"
The hall quieted. Forks paused mid-air. Outlanders pretended not to listen, but every ear tilted my way.
I kept walking. Didn’t slow. "I was.."
"Why can’t you be like your brother?" she cut in. Voice sharp enough to cut bread. "Like Ralph. Undisgracing."
Ralph’s mouth twitched. Secret smile. Satisfaction, quick and hidden. Ralph didn’t look up. Perfect hands stayed folded.
I stopped at the table. Stone under my boots. "What happened?"
Elowyn’s jaw worked. A muscle jumped. Then she said it. Flat. Unkind. "Your father’s sick."
The words didn’t fit. They were the wrong shape for this room.
I blinked. "Sick? Father?"
Stunned. Hollow. Father was stone. Father was storm. Father hadn’t been sick a day in his life.
"When did that ever happen?" My voice came out too loud. It cracked against the beams and fell.
- Writer
