Ezekiel found himself nervous, in a way he would never have expected.
He stood on the top of the marble steps of the great stairs, hands clasped behind him, keeping up a front of expressionless calm, but inside was actually a different manner.
Below him, the riders began to dismount and he got to see Kaillen for the first time in over a year.
For long moments, he thought perhaps they had made a mistake, that this was not Kaillen at all.
The man below, patting the mare with sorrow in his eyes, had changed immeasurably, as if all the softness, all the youth had been scoured from him, leaving a lean, wiry older version, that looked hard and cold.
He felt his breath falter. It was on this man’s shoulders that Nikolaus’ fate would rest, and at this moment, he had absolutely no idea if Kai
