"Ezra?" Guy repeated, tilting his head slightly, as if the name itself amused him.
"Yes. Ezra," Helios said again, voice firmer now. "Your captain. Where is he?"
Ezra did not leave posts unattended. He did not disappear without a word.
If he had stepped away, someone would have already informed him.
"Oh."
That was all Guy said.
'Oh?' Helios thought, a sharp crease forming between his brows. 'That's it?'
His gaze slid past Guy, toward the knights standing behind him.
They were smiling.
Every single one of them.
Not the easy kind of smiles soldiers shared after a clean drill. These were slow, stretched, wrong. The kind that did not reach the eyes.
A chill crept up Helios's spine.
'This is bad,' he thought.
His fingers twitched at his side as he assessed the distance, the numbers, the way Guy was slowly stepping backward, retreating toward the others without ever turning his back. Still smiling. Still watching him.
