Kyren leaned his head back against the leathered mahogany chair and loosened the knot of his tunic at the neck. His eyelids slid shut as he released a long, measured breath.
The wedding ritual had been completed, and with it came the faint sensation that a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders… at least a fragment of it.
Standing before the assembled crowd, fulfilling his duty of giving Clara away after a lengthy period in seclusion, had been daunting.
The weight of numerous gazes upon him stirred a pain he had long tried to suppress, a pain rooted in absence rather than ritual.
Yet beneath the strain, a quiet resolve persisted. He had endured the occasion, and that was what mattered most.
The moment the ritual concluded, Kyren excused himself without delay and withdrew from the gathering. Eric's frown followed him, as did the solemn looks of the knights, but he did not yield.
