King's Chambers

TOVA

I miserably followed Erik down the hallways to his wing in the castle. We were followed by servants who were trying to anticipate his wants. For his part, he strode down the drafty halls without looking back, shedding his cloak and kicking off his boots while walking. Servants scrambled to remove the offending items and took them to be cleaned.

He reached the door to his chambers and flung open the door, not looking back to see if I was following. I took a deep breath and gave the woman next to me a tentative smile. She looked at me sympathetically and looked away. I entered the chamber behind Erik and shut the door.

I turned to survey the room. I had never been in here and I was surprised at how spacious the suite was. We were in the anteroom. There were six comfortable chairs with footstools spaced around a two-sided fireplace that a small fire had been built in to ward off the springtime chill. Erik tossed his tunic into a chair and continued further into the suite.