Hector was surprised when Ariadne spoke up to answer the young Lord's question, not for the fact that she answered it but it was the tone of her voice. It was entirely unfamiliar with him to hear her speak in such a way - yet, the cadence in which she spoke so closely mirrored that of her sister's bite and his own flare of temper that there was no doubt of their relation.
His brows flung skyward the moment she mentioned Lord Elias' name - a name that fanned his own flame of anger and now worry. How often had Ariadne been around this man at the Palati? There was no doubt in their minds now what had taken place and who was involved - and the way the man's actions had risked the lives of Athenia as a whole....as well as specifically that if his daughter.
His instinct nearly had him warning her by speaking her name, but as the truth and hurt poured out of her, he allowed it. Hector was all too familiar of the need to bleed out the worst of such toxic feelings, and he knew all too well from watching his daughter since her return and murmured words from Demi that she had been struggling, holding it in.
Perhaps, this needed to happen this way.
Instead, as she finished speaking, Hector pushed away from where he stood and crossed over to her placing a hand on her upper arm. He knew the way his daughter's emotions bubbled through and in an attempt to help stave off the secondary embarrassment that she would feel later for her reaction (as she so often felt) he would offer her an out.
"I forgot the herbs to season the oil for the bread...."
Hector tilted his head towards the entryway the led to the courtyard, across which sat the small herb garden that limped along into the ends of summer, and a larder that kept most of what remained of their food stores. He did not have to actually ask her to get it, but with his words, his daughter understood. In the cool, dark of their small stores, she could find a moment to compose herself.
As he watched his daughter leave the room, Hector blew out a heavy breath through his nose before looking back over his shoulder to Adrestus. Then, gesturing towards the kitchen, Hector tried a shift in tone. "Come, it will not take me long to prepare everything else, and you look like you could use a drink."
|