Chapter 87 - 88
Her shining eyes reminded Alistar of when Caedmon had first taken him in, back when he had only ever eaten the porridge that they served in Crystellum, along with the apples, stale breads and moldy cheeses that Servan had made a habit of sneaking to him and Kaila on a planned schedule.
With this in mind, he began to eat his own meal with appreciative gusto. Nowadays, he required a lot more food to fuel his stamina, which was almost completely drained multiple times on a given day.
"Are you okay, Anice?" asked Stason towards the end of the meal. "Meaning no offence, but you look like you have a fever."
"Yes...I must have one."
Anice glanced at Alistar, who had been striving throughout much of his lunch to subdue the memories from earlier in the morning. As the two connected eyes, she forcibly downed the rest of her milk so quickly that she fell into a fit of coughing.
"Pace yourself, Anne," frowned Lessa, who began patting her on the back to help even out her breaths.
Alistar maintained a subconscious meditative state and looked down at his plate. He knew that if he looked her in the eye again, his calmness would melt away like the butter he was spreading on the toasted bread before him.
Blast it, Anne.
He thought about having a lock installed on the door to his bedroom, since she had a habit of allowing herself whenever she was seeking him out. Thinking of the spot in his dresser where he usually hid his locket and also thinking about his cousin’s nosiness, he was even more dead set on doing so.