“Aren’t you coming down for the feast?” Kyler asked from the doorway, forcing Arden’s thoughts from his silent brooding. “Not a soul has approached me without inquiring about you, leading me to believe that maybe your deeds have overshadowed my own.” He said it with a smile in his voice, clearly attempting to lighten the mood.
Normally, Arden would’ve appreciated his friend’s efforts, but now they did nothing but annoy him.
Arden turned to look over his shoulder at where Kyler stood in the doorway out into the hall of the inn. “I’m not in the mood for a party, Kyler,” he said flatly.
Arden turned away again, returning to glaring down at the floor.
Silence fell, and Arden almost began to think that Kyler had decided to leave him in peace.
Then he felt the mattress shift beneath him and turned to find Kyler plopping down on the opposite side of the bed, his back to Arden’s so that they were not facing each other.
“Do you really think,” Kyler murmured slowly, “that I am?”
That gave Arden pause. He said nothing.
So Kyler continued. “Our friends are gone, and the weight of that isn’t lost on me—far from it, actually. I’m not feeling particularly celebratory tonight either.”
“Then why are you going?” Arden asked.
“Because it’s the best way I can think to honor their memory, to do my best to enjoy myself tonight, no matter how impossible it seems. At the very least, the festivities will distract me from my misery for a short while. Perhaps it can do the same for you.” The smile returned to Kyler’s voice, though now Arden detected the slight strain in it as his friend added, “Your presence would at least make the guests stop bothering me about you.”
Arden considered that for a few minutes. All but one of his friends were gone, and that remaining one was obviously seeking companionship—and, quite frankly, Arden knew he could use some company himself, that sitting here brooding was helping no one and nothing.
So, at long last, he nodded. “All right, I’ll come. You seem desperate for companionship anyhow.”
“Well, only a fool would think they could face this battle alone,” Kyler said simply as they both stood up.
His joking tone implied that he was talking about the party, but Arden couldn’t help but feel that maybe there was more to the words than his friend seemed to believe.
Thank you for reading! I wrote this story as part of the Storytelling Collective’s Flash Fiction February 2023 challenge, so a huge thanks to them for inspiring me to give it a shot.
