Chapter 35
Alistar’s condition was no better. He locked himself away in his room each day, and stopped attending mealtimes. If he ate at all, then it was brief and inconspicuous. She went three whole days without seeing him, until one evening when he finally showed up for dinner, his hair tangled, his clothes tattered and his body unwashed.
His wonderful eyes were hollowed out and sunken, a grave expression on his handsome face. Her father was absent again, so it was just the two of them. She was happy for the company, but her cousin wasn’t exactly in the most sociable of moods. Madeline had just finished laying out meat pies and chilled cow’s milk, sparing Alistar a concerned glance before she moved to stand off to the side where she would wait on them until the meal was finished.
Not knowing what to say, Anice blurted the first thing that came to mind. "So you’ve finally left your room."
Alistar looked up from his untouched food, and gave a broken nod.
"I thought you’d never leave. You can’t just stay in there for the rest of your life, you know."
He bit his lip, downcast.
She cleared her throat. "I’ve got an idea. Why don’t you come into town with me today? You can meet my friends!"
"You have friends?" he said dryly. A small grin fought its way onto his lips, but it left as quickly as it came.
She bit back a sharp retort and pressed him further, knowing that he was in low spirits. "It’ll do you good to get out of the house. Back when you just arrived, you were amazed by a ball of mouse droppings, but now you just sit in your room all day with only your thoughts for company. There’s a ton of stuff to do in town! I bet it will take your mind off of things."
The cries of shattered glass and a heavy curse floated down from the floors above. Ignoring it, Alistar looked up at her as if she were a stranger. And then, against all odds, he let out a tired laugh. "You know, that has to be the most intelligent thing you’ve said since we met."
More glass shattered from above.