>>6089761“That will be all esteemed council members, thank you for listening to me,” You say with another bow. When you rise and survey the room, you see looks of distress and heavy thinking, but none look outright upset at you. Except for your father and the Lord Inquisitor, that is. You suspect your father is upset at you in general for being here, while the Lord Inquisitor may be upset for letting you lose information he himself didn’t give. However, you get a strange feeling that isn’t why, moreso he looks expectant. Like he’s waiting for you to say more, yet you don’t.
“Then you are dismissed, Lorina. Please get some rest,” your father says with a wave of his hand. You do not hesitate to leave the room as he looks away from you, though you’re certain there is concern in his words, even if they do not match his tone or expression. He didn’t mention anything about a punishment!
Once you’re out of the chamber, your mother gives a huge sigh of relief at the fact you didn’t do anything too stupid other than appear before some of the most influential people in the country in your nightclothes and slippers. But as she goes to speak, most likely to chastise you, the door opens, and you’re enveloped in a crushingly painful hug courtesy of your older brother, Crown Prince Arthur. “Ack! Let me go! Let me go, you fiend!” You try to scream, but the embrace only gets tighter.
“It’s good to see you safe, Ina. You had us worried the other day, should’ve seen how much mom cried,” Arthur says as he relents the embrace. Your eyes get a fuzzy feeling as you stand on your own feet again, and you need to clutch your mother for support.
“Were you trying to kill me!?” You say in a tone that’s quieter than you’d have liked.
“Aha, sorry, Ina. I just wanted to let you know we’re all happy to have you back home. Even if it’s because of bad circumstances.”
“Knowing you’re here, I’m going to try to leave twice as hard now.”
“I think Red’ll put a stop to that real quick. Right, honey?” He says to the cloaked woman, only getting a shrug in response, “Ah, well, I hope you’re at least here come tomorrow morning, Lorina. I’m going to be too busy today to hear all your Inquisition stories,” He says before jerking his head to the door behind him, “But I’m glad you’re safe,” With a small goodbye to Mom and a small kiss to his wife, ew, the prince reenters the council.
The rest of the walk back to your room is spent in relative silence, only your mom whispering encouraging words as you stumble back to your bed. How humiliating it is to be treated like a kid when you’re nearly old enough to graduate from the Academy. You can only imagine how your friends would- Ah, they’d laugh at you regardless, wouldn’t they? At least Cathy wouldn’t.
