The door creaked behind him.
"I said I didn't want to be disturbed."
The footsteps did not retreat. They came closer, soft and deliberate, until the scent of emillion flowers and a hint of herbs hit his nose.
Caelus.
"I brought tea," his brother said.
"I don't want tea."
"You need tea." Caelus set a cup on the desk. The ceramic clinked against the wood. "You also need sleep. And possibly a shave, you look like a corpse that's been propped up in a chair."
Aldric turned from the window.
Caelus stood by the desk, the beast perched on his shoulder as always, its ember eyes glowing in the dim light. His clothes were cheap but he somehow made them look noble, a far cry from who he had been before his fall. He looked well rested, the memory of his brother covered in blood unconscious made him bite his mouth. It reminded him of his mother and he got the realization that if Caelus left he would actually be all alone.
