Chapter 309: Regulus: I'm Coming Apart [bonus]
The Gothic vaulted ceiling of the banquet hall still stood, but that was about all that remained.
Not much time had passed since the fighting started.
Outside the manor, most of the guests had already left. But a handful lingered, clustering in twos and threes on the flagstones or beneath the portico, chatting. That was how Christmas banquet socializing worked: those who couldn't get a word in during the event often came alive once it ended, making new acquaintances, expanding their networks, arranging a tea for next week.
They'd seen it all, of course. The collapsing walls, the flying debris, firelight and black fog pouring from the shattered windows, explosions that shook the night sky.
Nobody went to look.
What shouldn't be seen goes unseen. What shouldn't be known stays unknown. There's a fight in there, and that's someone else's business. Seeing means taking a position. Taking a position means picking a side. Picking a side means taking a risk.
Better not to look.
But nobody left early either, as though whoever walked away first would be admitting they had something to do with whatever was happening inside.
In the hall, Regulus stood at the edge of the flames.