Ciara was admiring the curtains on the windows in the short time it took Arthur to get into the room. It seemed odd, without as much light coming through the windows, to need such heavy fabric, but she supposed the castle staff were preoccupied to consider changing such things. In fact, she was only considering it to kill time. Her attention stopped the moment she heard the knob twist on the door to the suite and she turned to watch her friend absent mindedly stroll through the chambers in about the state she assumed he would.

She waited in silence until he spotted her, not wanting to shock him, but when he smiled she did the same and held one of the two bottles toward him. “I am a pleasant surprise,” she agreed with a grin. “But wine is a much better one.”

The smile faltered ever so slightly as he elected to sit in the chair rather than on the bed with her, but she recovered quickly enough. She shifted on the bed to get closer to the king’s seat and a nearby table before crossing her legs and handing him the bottle. “Would you like the honors while you tell me about it?” she probed, setting the crystal glasses on the table and then reaching over to put her hand over his. Despite it being a near constant state, Ciara didn’t particularly enjoy seeing him so stressed out. “Or we could talk about something else, if you’d prefer. You name it.”