Nicolae fell asleep, snoring softly, his head on the table.
-----------
When the sound of Nicolae's cups shattering resounded through out the hall, Riva jumped in fear. To her, shattering glass was a particularly terrifying sound. So sharp, so shill, so chaotic, and so... memory filled. Accidentally broken vials, her mother's anger... Times she'd buried deep.
Her face red with fury, Riva stared at the creator of the noise. A servant, bah! For a moment, she toyed with the idea of marching over and demanding for his presence in her dungeon, but then realized that was probably incredibly harsh. She desperately needed to get out of here... The tension was palpable, the noises a whirlwind. And more than that, getting splattered, then rejected by the general had been embarrassing. The possibility of a damaged reputation made her skin crawl; if she lost the protection their fear allowed her... Visions of being torn apart by an angry crowd aroused her anxiety and her fingers trembled. If day came... she would have no chance of surviving it.
When I die, I will die on my own terms, she told herself. My strength lies beneath the surface.