Not Good News

"Good news?" Bel heard herself ask, but even as the words left her lips, she knew it wouldn't be the sort of good news she wanted to hear.

There was no way her father was here to tell her they would cancel the wedding but still keep the alliance. She shook her head, but it was a good thought. However, she was more unnerved by his current behavior than what he was about to tell her, and somehow she could guess that both of them were interwoven.

"Yes, have a seat," he gestured to the table and chairs Hazel arranged in her room when she decided to start eating here. She never took them away, and Bel wasn't complaining.

Bel found it ironic that her father was offering her a seat in her own room. She didn't argue, didn't have any strength to, she simply shrugged. She took a step toward the table and sat down on one of the two chairs. The round table was big enough to hold four chairs but it only held two.