Sitting with Sylus in companionable silence as you work and he reads. Then the sudden dissociation as flashes of caves and cathedrals pass in your mind, brief glimpses of a time gone by. An echo of a name comes to you, a name that escapes the moment you utter it.
“Stayrus…?”
Sylus startles you back into reality when he drops his book, and he stares at you wide eyed. The hope that twinkled in his eye was utterly heartbreaking.
“Where did you learn that name?”
“What?” You tilt your head in confusion. “What name?”
A painful silence spreads between you. Without answering, Sylus composes himself, brushing off your confusion and going back to his reading. The mood in the room dropped drastically.
He distances himself from you, working through whatever emotion that you saw flicker on his face when you questioned him.
You knew you upset him somehow, but you didn’t know how.