Adelaide's concerned voice cut through Marcus's dark spiral. "Are you okay?" she asked, her hand resting gently on his back. "You looked as though you'd seen a ghost."
Marcus started at her touch, his warrior's instincts screaming at how completely he'd dropped his guard. He hadn't even sensed her approach – a sobering reminder of how deeply he'd been lost in his own thoughts. "It's okay. It's nothing," he responded, quickly reconstructing his composed facade.
Adelaide studied his sudden shift in demeanor with fascination. The speed at which he could switch between emotional extremes was really like of those dramatic protagonists in fantasy novels. It was almost unsettling how quickly he could bury such obvious distress beneath a mask of calm.
