The evening meal was quieter than usual.
Darion sat at the table and ate without tasting much of it.
Garren sat across from him doing the same thing, occasionally looking at his food and occasionally looking at the wall, the way Garren looked at things when his mind was somewhere else and his eyes needed somewhere to rest.
Seren looked at both of them.
She looked at Darion first. He was present in body but somewhere else entirely in his head, the fork moving to his mouth at intervals. Carrying this patience of someone performing eating rather than actually doing it.
Then she looked at Garren, who was at least consistent. Garren was always somewhat contained, but even by his standards there was a flatness to him tonight that was different from his usual quiet.
"We are all gloomy today, eh?" she said.
Darion looked up from his food, then back down at it.
"We're about to lose the farmlands," he said. "And by soon I mean faster than I can blink."
Seren set her fork down.
