It was getting late, but Elric found himself still sitting among his knights, even though the plates had been pushed aside long ago. A few crumbs, a half-empty jug of water, and a bowl of nuts remained from dinner.
His knights, however, were wide awake and loud.
They were still talking about the fight from earlier, and despite surviving something nasty, they were still lively as ever.
"…did you see her? The way the ground cracked… like it was nothing," one of them said.
"Cracked? It shook! I nearly fell on my backside," another argued.
Someone was trying to mimic the way Verona used her power, with his hands waving in circles, trying and failing to imitate the way the ground cracked beneath her feet.
Elric didn't join in. Not because he wasn't impressed, he was, but because listening to his men fawn over her power stirred something complicated inside him. A mix of pride, worry, curiosity, and a faint ache he couldn't name.
