Shadow of the Sworn

[KAELIA BRYNN HALLOWAY]

ALL IS WELL.

I repeat to myself. Somehow the worst part is over. Forks are scraping over plates, attention is on the meal.

I can breathe. Finally.

At least the illusion is comforting, at least it feels that way but in truth, it is not. The attention is not on the meal, although it cascaded as such.

I feel an array of gazes in the small silence, flickering to me in instances