Chapter 37: The Shadows Crawl

The air only got more acrid and stale the longer they lingered in the palace. The hall seemed to stretch forever to Eris. He kept frightfully glancing back to Marion, though every so often, he swore he caught the gleam of eyes peeking from the shadows. He only grew more and more sure that the palace, the place he had spent most of his adult life until seven months prior, was no longer his home. He only grew more aware of how unnatural everything had come to feel the longer they spent there.

When the pair at last stumbled into the stables from the interior door, Eris felt calm again, though still somewhat uneasy. He took a deep breath and allowed himself to process his surroundings. The hay was musty and a large number of the stalls were wide open, doors stood ajar. The retinue had been able to shelter here in the stables and he felt great relief upon seeing them. He had half expected them to be run off or even threatened, but here they were.