Elletra glanced at the distracted Hawkeye, rubbing the scarf he wore in an unconscious action. Thinking back, she noted that he seemed to only make this action when speaking of his father, and carefully filed the thought away.

Hawkeye’s thoughts were elsewhere indeed.

It was supposed to be an enjoyable occasion – the final farewell before I left for Four Peaks, but somehow it had turned into a mess. The effort of pretending to be happy for everyone was killing me. Terciel seemed to be completely fine – as ever – and was obviously having a great time, off talking with some girl or other.

And then Father presented me with a fine ivory-handled revolver like it was the treasure of the earth and not something off-hand he’d had the head butler think of, and I knew I would be glad to be gone.