When the hall finally grew silent, Alaric looked down at his wrist. The bracelet Eirene had given him that morning was still there. A simple woven piece with tiny beads. It didn't look dangerous. It didn't look evil. But it belonged to a monster.
Trovald noticed where his eyes had gone.
"You should take it off," Trovald said quietly.
Alaric didn't argue. He slid the bracelet off his wrist and held it in his palm. The weight of it felt wrong now. He stared at it with a strange mix of disbelief and disgust.
"She told me it would protect me during the ceremony," he said. "She said it would ward off danger."
Trovald stepped closer. "She lied."
Alaric let out a long breath. He didn't trust his voice to speak. He placed the bracelet on a nearby table as if it were something toxic.
After a moment, he looked up at Torvald with tired eyes.
"Is this where you say, 'I told you so?'"
Trovald didn't hesitate. "I told you so."
