Once again alone, with his own thoughts, his own worries and his own doubts.
He looked around the room. It had been scrubbed clean, the vinegary stench of wine that had permeated the stone for months finally vanquished by lye and fresh air. Yet, as his gaze drifted to a specific patch of rug near the desk, which previously wasn't there, his mind betrayed him.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
He looked down at the floor.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
That was the exact spot where Basil had seen him puke and fall , eyes wide with a terrifying, precocious realization, seeing the pillar of his world reduced to a shivering, broken drunkard.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
His ears began to ring, a high-pitched whine that drowned out the settling of the castle's timber. His heart hammered against his ribcage in a frantic, violent protest against whatever it was that he was doing.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
He—
Thud. Thud.
