***Cassius***
The bath had gone cold by the time I finally got out.
I had stayed in it too long, which I knew even while I was doing it, but the warmth had been useful for thinking. About dinner. About the way Aldrik had looked at me when he thought I wasn't watching. About the thing I had said at my door before dinner that had made his entire body go still. *Later.*
I dried off, slipped into something simple, and sat on the edge of the bed.
The room was quiet. I hadn't anticipated how much space the waiting would take up, or how loud my own heartbeat would sound in the silence. I knew he was out there, he had knocked once earlier, and when I hadn't opened the door, he had simply waited. Counting the minutes.
When the second knock finally came, it was quiet, but it held a distinct edge of urgency.
"Come in," I said.
