At the same time, in a place far above the concerns of the streets below, Eccar sat alone atop the highest tower of the King's Palace.
The wind was gentle this night and brushing his hair.
The full moon hung above like a silent observer, spilling its silver light over the tiled rooftops and winding alleys of the slumbering city below.
The stars scattered across the sky in their eternal dance, distant and unbothered.
Beside him sat a half-empty jug of wine and in his hand there was a goblet that was still half full. Eccar took another long gulp and exhaled through his nose with satisfaction.
"Peace. One of the few nights when the world isn't screaming at me to save it." he thought, tilting his head slightly to the sky.
He didn't take such moments for granted anymore after everything he and Erend had been through. The ancient gods, the eldritch horrors, the danger beyond time and space, or the Mage with metal. They'd faced horrors that would drive normal men mad. Or just dead.
