Loreen's POV
Loreen descended the last set of stairs first before immediately turning back to help his father down the remaining steps.
His father accepted the support without protest, though he looked far calmer now than he had earlier in the sunroom. The rage was gone completely, replaced with exhaustion and something quieter that Loreen could not fully understand.
They had been mostly silent since leaving the sunroom.
Well, he had been silent.
Behind him, Sairis and his father had somehow continued talking comfortably as though they had known each other for years instead of hours.
At this point, Loreen had stopped trying to understand it.
First, Sairis calmed the king. Then his father allowed Sairis to touch him. Now they were casually speaking like old friends while walking through the palace corridors, hand in hand.
Nothing about today made sense anymore.
Loreen kept his eyes ahead, pretending not to care about what they were discussing behind him.
Then he heard it.
