Serenya’s POV
The dining hall was too quiet. A silence that didn’t feel peaceful, but coiled, like a snake waiting to strike.
The long mahogany table gleamed beneath the dim golden chandelier, a perfect, polished reflection of the tension hanging in the air. I sat in my usual seat, third from the head of the table, while Kaelith occupied the one beside me. Not beside me like a husband, no. He angled away, arms crossed, eyes distant, lips pressed in a cold line that made my skin prickle. As always.
Kaelith’s mother sat opposite us, spine ramrod straight, eyes like narrow slits of judgment that never looked directly at me, but hovered near enough to make me feel dissected.
And now his father, fresh from a business trip, sat at the head of the table. I had met him formally but that was o
