(Xul)

“So, uh, what kind of things do you like?” Aurenolia cleared her throat and asked. She walked slowly through the halls of the palace. Deo followed only a few steps behind, his arms crossed, his feet shuffling. He had been given some decent looking clothes that were too baggy on him. Aurenolia had taken him to get fitted for clothes but he was so skittish and uncomfortable when the tailor’s hands were on him that Aurenolia decided it wouldn’t be too terrible if she cut the fitting short.

But now she didn’t quite know what to do with her new playmate. She led him around the palace, showing him her favorite artworks and the gardens but he seemed uninterested in all of them. He regarded everything with an apathetic glare from the one eye of his that peeked through the bandages wrapped around his head.

She even took him to the library. He only took two steps into the room, hanging back by the door as she bustled around, grabbing her favorite books. She ran back to him and, out of breath, held the small stack of books out to him. “We have a lot of books but here are some of my favorites if you’re interested!”

Deo looked down at the books then back up at Aurenolia. Even from the limited amount of his expression that she could see, she could tell he was utterly bored and annoyed. She flinched, subconsciously pulling the book in towards her chest.

One of the twin guards who had been assigned to watch over Deo stepped towards Aurenolia. She knew their names were Joren and Neron but they were too identical and she couldn’t remember which one was following them that day. He leaned in and whispered, “perhaps young master Deo is a bit tired, he is still recovering after all.”

Aurenolia plastered on a smile, “you’re right.” She set the books down on a random table and walked out of the library with her hands folded behind her back. “Why don’t I show you to your new room now so that you can have a rest.”