[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/PLyfcLV.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/b9KLVcc.gif[/img][/center]
[color=lightgray][color=ef82a5]Time:[/color] Evening
[color=ef82a5]Location:[/color] The Castle Ballroom
[color=ef82a5]Interactions:[/color] Ariella [@Silverspring]
[color=ef82a5]Attire:[/color] [url=i.imgur.com/NbspWII.png]Dress[/url]
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Anastasia smiled softly at her friend and gently took her hand with a fond squeeze.

[color=ef82a5]"Thank you,"[/color] she said simply.

It was all she could manage at first after all.

Life had changed since the banquet. Guards upon guards filled every crevice of the castle now, darkening every doorway, every hall, every stray patch of moonlight that slipped through the windows. There was now even one posted near her balcony nightly. They had not objected to Farim’s visits, which meant Edin had likely ordered them not to. Perhaps he thought it would keep her quieter if she had something pretty to look forward to. 

Perhaps he thought a lovesick daughter was easier to contain than a grieving one.

He was wrong.

Every day since Drunkard’s Day, she had pestered him about Callum.

And every day, Edin told her the same thing. They were looking. They knew enough. She was not to worry. She was not, under any circumstances, to leave the castle.

In truth, she was barely allowed to choose anything anymore. If she left her room in certain dresses, she was asked to return and change. If her hair was loose, someone appeared with a brush and pins. If she spoke out, she was reminded to be silent.

Suddenly, she had to pray daily. Suddenly, she had to repent and beg the Gods for forgiveness for a sin she had never committed. 

So much had changed that she did not feel like the same girl who had sat with Farim and [color=#6A5ACD]Ariella[/color] in the tavern only days ago.

But when [color=#6A5ACD]Ariella[/color] mentioned Callum, life had sparked back in her dull gaze and her posture straightened.

[color=ef82a5]"Officially, he is missing,"[/color] she began lowly.[color=ef82a5] "I have been forbidden from looking for him, but I have been assured, apparently—"[/color]

[color=#A187BE][i]Callum died the moment he opened a book. The brother you knew is gone, Ana.[/i][/color]

She broke off her statement very suddenly.

For a second, Anastasia looked as if she had been struck by something no one else could see. Her eyes watered before she could stop them, and she wrapped her arms around herself, fingers digging into the fabric of her sleeves as her mouth pressed into a fine line.

She glanced once toward the crowd. Then toward the guards.

When she looked back at [color=#6A5ACD]Ariella[/color], her eyes shone with fear.[color=ef82a5]"Can we please talk in the hallway, Ari?"[/color]



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