The fire had burned low; its glow reduced to a dim flicker of light that danced across the floor.
Aurel had not moved.
She remained where she had been stationed, lingering at the edge of the room, even after Mikael and Seline had finished talking. Her back straight, eyes focused on the two who seemed to be giving each other their final words.
She had heard enough to piece it together.
More than, really.
She was not angry. Not exactly, not anymore. That anger of hers had passed as the room grew still. What lingered in her now was something softer, less intense. She could only describe it as sulk.
Oh, yes, that! That was the right word for it – sulk.
Aurel felt the familiar sting, that persistent ache of being passed over. Why had her sister-in-law chosen to confide in Princess Seline first?
She had always been there. Always ready to listen, to answer every question about the world beyond the mansion walls. Yet still, she had been overlooked.
