The imperial bedchamber felt far too vast when the silence settled in.
Yerel sat on the edge of his wide, velvet-draped bed, staring blankly at the unlit fireplace on the far wall. Pale moonlight filtered through the high arched windows, leaving long shadows across the floor. Normally, he didn't mind the quiet, but tonight the stillness pressed against him.
It wasn't unusual for him to sleep alone, of course, but his mind kept drifting back to the simple fact that Philia wasn't in the palace. Philia had always been a calming presence, someone he could rely on when everything became too much. When Philia was near, the air felt lighter. But tonight, Philia was away visiting the orphanage, leaving Yerel stranded in the empty silence of his own thoughts.
