@keepslore sent:
You’re lonely too. // for king!alistair. it's lonely at the top or smth
Deathless Starters | Accepting
His first instinct is to laugh it off and to make some kind of joke about how impossible it is to be lonely when you're surrounded by a castle full of servants and advisors and who knows who else. But the way Dhavi is looking at him tells him that she would see right through that lie, either from personal experience or because it's simply not true. It is possible to the be the loneliest person even when in the company of hundreds.
"That seems like an unfair observation," he murmurs without any real heat in the words, because they both know she's right.
He can't pretend she isn't for very long. Alistair takes a moment to approach the nearest window and look out at the activity happening around them, everybody below them busy with their own lives and priorities and everything else. But what does he have with his own life besides constantly giving it to others? What does a leader have with their people
She does understand, he realizes, and he turns back to her. "It's not something you can complain about either, is it? It sounds absolutely ridiculous when you say it out loud. Melodramatic, even. Poor lonely king in his full castle."
He blinks rapidly for a moment, forcing himself to meet her gaze. "What if we are lonely?" he asks quietly. "What is there to be done about it?"