~ALARIC'S POV
I left the banquet and returned to my chambers, shutting the door behind me as the noise of the court faded into distant echoes.
The silence did nothing to settle my thoughts.
Hael's betrayal and Ivara's death still pressed against the edges of my mind, heavy and unresolved.
She had died beneath silk and gold, in front of nobles who pretended not to flinch. The loud gasps and sharp intake of breath that had rippled through the hall still lingered in fragments I could not escape.
I had not loved her, but her presence would always be better than her absence.
I replayed her father's betrayal in my mind. The sting of it still burned, resulting to a bitter taste that wouldn't leave my tongue.
Just as I was sinking into the familiar ache of it, a gnawing sensation clawed its way into my chest.
